


To travel realms unexplored

by thingwithfeathers



Series: Consequences of Time Travel [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Claudia Stilinski, Angst, Full Shift Werewolves, Gen, Ghost Peter Hale, Good Peter, Sheriff Stilinski Finds Out, Sheriff Stilinski is a Good Parent, Sort Of, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Time Travel, Young Peter Hale, kid stiles, well he tries at least
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-04-25 10:59:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 70
Words: 75,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14377236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thingwithfeathers/pseuds/thingwithfeathers
Summary: Peter was not sure why he had agreed to be sent back in time. Or why he agreed to the time travel as a feasible idea in the first place.  It really was not his style to potentially sacrifice himself for the greater good, and surely if he succeeded he would cease to exist. They all would. He was not sure the rest of them had thought it through, because if you change the past none of them would continue to be who they were right now. Not that the current situation was any price to be in, but to not exist at all? Because if he managed to change the past, no one would survive as they were today. Sure, their past lives would continue, but not the same and who knows what would happen to them and they guaranteed would not be the same people they were now. He would have laughed at the mere thought if not more or less everyone he really cared for was dead and his own existence had become quite tedious.orA time travel AU where Peter does not get quite what he bargained for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first written fanfic ever. And I am quite new to this fandom. I welcome feedback, but please be kind. I give writing a go as a help to keep my depression at bay, so hateful comments will be deleted. I will add tags as I get out more chapters, and I will probably change the ratings. 
> 
> And, I have not actually seen more than the first episode of Teen Wolf, but I love the fanfic, and hope I am not too out of character. 
> 
> Lastly, english is not my first language. So if you note any glaring errors please do tell and I will fix them.

Peter was not sure why he had agreed to be sent back in time. Or why he agreed to the time travel as a feasible idea in the first place.  It really was not his style to potentially sacrifice himself for the greater good, and surely if he succeeded he would cease to exist. They all would. He was not sure the rest of them had thought it through, because if you change the past none of them would continue to be who they were right now. Not that the current situation was any price to be in, but to not exist at all? Because if he managed to change the past, no one would survive as they were today. Sure, their past lives would continue, but not the same and who knows what would happen to them and they guaranteed would not be the same people they were now. He would have laughed at the mere thought if not more or less everyone he really cared for was dead and his own existence had become quite tedious. So sent back in time it was. He hoped Stiles succeeded, because if he ended up burned to death one more time he would haunt their collective asses as miserable an afterlife it would make him. He was not above petty revenge.

Peter looked up from his private musings at the preparations of the rest of the pack, measly as they were. There were not really a lot of them left, and he really did only know Stiles and Scott at this rate. Most of them was just milling around the Nemeton-stump looking uncomfortable. But Scott seemed determined. And he understood why Scott agreed to this, he would sacrifice himself any day at the week to get his friends and family back, but Stiles was more of an enigma. But it was his idea, and even if it had been a long time since last they really spent time together Peter kind of trusted Stiles. He was smart, kind of crazy, but smart. And ruthless. And right now he was sort of staring at Peter.

“Second thoughts?” Stiles smirked at him.

“Why, me? Why would I be uncomfortable with possible death by experimental magic that you say should work? Why is it me you send back again?”

“Because your life is boring, you hate being bored and you have a possibility to be sane again. And as you have already managed to beat death once you have the highest rate to succeed.”

Right, Peter already knew that. But, nice to be reminded. Probably.

“And you still have no idea on when I will be there?” This was something Peter was quite annoyed at, the when was important. How in hell was he supposed to manage anything if he got there too late?

“Well, you will probably be there at least a year before the fire.”

“A year?” This was news, last they spoke of it had sounded more or less like it would be a month, hit or miss a few weeks. A year was better. Much better. He could do so much with a year.

 “Yeah, I went over the spell and managed to tweak it a bit. So at least a year, maybe more. But at any rate not less.” Stiles sounded confident. He also seemed to be done with the preparations.

“Right, now, step into the circle and grab the bag. It contains a bunch of old money that should be viable. And also some food and water if you get transported in space and not just time. I also put down a compass if you are really lost, but I’m not sure if it would help if you don’t know where you are. And really, try to avoid past you. I know you think you are the best help, but I don’t know what will happen if you interact too closely with yourself, so try to find Talia, and let her help. I…“

“Yes, I know. We have talked about this. I can probably manage. I do know how to neutralize a threat.” Frankly, Peter was quite done with this; he just wants to get on with it. Hopefully the spell would work, he would kill Kate and maybe Gerard and then he would cease to exist. Or maybe his consciousness would merge with past him? Intriguing thought, but not something he could do anything about.

“Can we get on with it?” He said as he walked into the circle.

“Right, take a deep breath and, good luck!” Stiles started chanting something quite incomprehensible and everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter the same day. I will not continue to update this often. But I feel like I should at least get the setting of the story out before I loose my nerve.

“Ugh…” Peter slovenly came back to life. Something felt off. He opened his eyes and looked around. Everything was kind of, faded. But he was alone. The Nemeton looked more or less the same, but it also felt kind of dulled. Like it was asleep. So he probably was in the past then. Of possibly in a far future when the power of the Nemeton has burned out. But, probably the past. Now, why was everything trying to look like a bad instagram filter? Peter looked down on himself, huh, he was alright. His jeans the same color blue as before, and his henley the same crisp white as he was used too. So, if he was unfiltered, and the world was faded, was he really there? He tried to lift a pebble, and kind of succeeded, but it was like the pebble resisted, and when he let go it came to rest at the same place he took it from.

“Damn.”                   

This was not the plan. How in the moon would he be able to do anything if he could not interact with the world? God damn it. Something must have gone wrong. Or maybe the universe had an issue with time travel? Probably the latter, but why let him come at all? Why not just not let the spell work. Now he was stuck. Argh! And the bag was nowhere to be seen. But that was probably not an issue if he was a ghost. Was he a ghost? Had he died?   

“Stupid experimental magic….” Peter started to walk towards the Hale residence muttering profanities about magic, and Stiles and the universes at large. Hopefully people would see him. And hear him. He heard himself, and he could hear the rest of the world, even if it was a bit damped. He really, really hoped that he was not stuck essentially alone. Sure he kept to himself most of the time nowadays, but that was by choice. To be bereft of that choice would rankle.  

He started to really get a sense of home after about ten minutes of walking. This was the forest he grew up in. He found the path he used to run every morning before school when he was young. A path that had been overgrown when he woke up after the fire. A path that was still in use. Right now actually. Shit. He had not paid attention and with everything being damped he had completely missed that someone was running his way. He promptly stepped into the trees, if it was a human they would probably miss him, a werewolf not so much. The man ran passed him without missing a step. It was Andrew. Peter was stunned. If Andrew was alive, then the fire had not happened yet. But he had not noticed him. Damn. Sure, he was bitten, but still. A wolf is a wolf. Peter started to feel quite a bit panicked.

“Calm down, you did not try to be noticed. This means nothing.” He stared after his brother in law. Andrew did not slow down. He heard nothing. Should he follow him or continue towards the house. If Andrew was there it had to be after 83 but before the fire. That was 22 years to work with. Damn, he should have looked more closely, why did he try to be careful? He didn’t really look at the man too occupied with not being seen. But, he did recognize him, so surely it could not be too far back. Sure, Andrew had always been there, as he married Vi before Peter even was born. But Peter was sure that he looked like normal, so he could not be more than 10 years younger than when he died. Otherwise he sure would have noticed. So, it was probably at least in the 90ies. And if he remembered correctly Andrew always did his run after work before dinner. So that meant that probably everyone was home.

With that thought Peter promptly started towards the house. He would be damned if he would wait a minute more than necessary before he saw his family again. Something broke loose in his chest and he almost sobbed. His family, alive. The possibility to keep them alive was worth an existence in this dulled world. He broke into a run and a after a few more minutes he saw it. The house, his house, whole unburned perfection. And from it he heard laughter. He was home.   

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vi, short for Violet is Peter and Talias sister middle sister. I'm not sure how much family explanations should be in the story, since I try to write from Peters POV, and he would not think about it that much, at least I don't thinkt so.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three chapters on one day. I probably should have spread them out. But fuck it. I'm nervous enough about letting other people read my work as it is. So publishing as I write it is, at least on good days.

Peter abruptly stopped. Was he really doing this? Just barge straight in without any investigations first? He nodded, yes, yes he was. The moon be damned if he would be cautious now. He was in the past, he was probably a ghost and he had sneaked by a werewolf. He would only be glad if someone in there could see him, even if it was himself. Stiles’ warnings be damned.

He slowly approached the back of the house. He didn’t see anyone but the door to the garden was open and he heard voices from inside. It sounded like Talia, and maybe Joseph. It sounded right. Joseph usually cooked and Talia would keep him company. So it had to be after five but probably before seven. So, his whole family could be home. Peter had now reached the porch and ventured up the stairs in three quick steps. He could hear his footsteps with no problem but he seemingly raised no alarm in the house. This could be because they didn’t hear him, or because they thought that he was, well, himself. Did he still smell the same? Probably not, but maybe close enough? He went through the door. And stopped. Straight ahead of him was Talia, sitting at the kitchen table with a wineglass in one hand talking vividly with her husband who did something at the stove. Neither reacted to his presence.

“Talia…” Peter croaked, the name stuck in his throat. No response. He took a few steps in.

“Sister, please.” He pleaded, willed her to hear him. But nothing. He more or less stumbled towards her and tried to take her hand, but it was like a force field kept him from her. He could not reach her. And she did not hear him. He collapsed at the floor. He was a ghost, and quite frankly a useless ghost at that. He had no idea what to do next.

“…and I have no idea why Peter thought that this was the time to travel the world. Shouldn’t he settle down, start his career, I don’t know. Find a girl?” Peter finally zoned in on what Talia was talking about. She talked about him.

“Let him be, he is young. Just because we found each other in high school does not mean that he has to be married by 25. You know he kind of hated law school so let him let lose a bit before you shackle hit to the firm.” Joseph mused.

Both sounded muffled like he heard them from afar but still quite clear. If they talked about his travels them this had to be 2002. So he went twenty years back. This was better than expected. If he only could find some way to communicate he could fix so much. He would really like if he could find himself. But if he was away, was he away? This could be before he left. He had to put up quite a fight with Talia for her to let him go but it had so been worth it. Law school, that brought back memories. He had always excelled at debates and when their father pressured him to fall in to the family line he had agreed to it. Mainly because he had no other idea at what he wanted to do, and law sounded useful. Even if corporate law really was not something he wanted to do. He really should have changed course when their parents died halfway through, but he had never been a quitter. And he did ace his classes, even if he hated it. He was nothing if not stubborn.

“Mom! Look what I found!” Cora stumbled on small legs through the door holding something wriggling in her arms. Stopping right before Peter. He found himself looking straight at a cat that hissed viciously at him, its eyes bright green.


	4. Chapter 4

It has been a week. After Peter was faced with a snarling creature that obviously saw him he had had enough. With a growl that promptly scared the cat quiet he had scrambled out of the kitchen to find somewhere quiet where he could lick his wounds. He was not sure how the family had reacted to the odd behavior of the cat and he frankly did not care. He did not see it again anyways, so it did not matter.

Peter had spent the week alternating with following close to Talia and hiding away when the overwhelming feelings got too much. He had learned that it was the beginning of June. The present Peter was off traveling and Talia was annoyed but Joseph had talked her down. After realizing how much Joseph had helped the relation between the siblings behind the curtains Peter had decided to do his best to influence himself to be nicer to him when he got back in the fall. If he still was there then. And if he managed to actually do anything that affected anything in the real world.  So far the only thing that had noticed him was the damn cat, and it had been shipped of somewhere else, to Cora’s utter disappointment. But Peter didn’t really think it would help even if the cat had stayed. For supernatural beings the majority of the family was disappointingly down to earth. None of them believed in ghost as far as he knew, and he was depressingly ghostlike.

He did not feel dead, but he did also not get hungry or tired or anything else quite frankly. It was probably for the best, his experimentation with food was best forgotten and not something he was willing to try again. But as the time had eased some of the worst initial chock, he found himself getting more and more forlorn. It was like watching an old movie. And the pack bonds were not there. He did not feel anything. It had taken a few days before he realized that they were missing, as he had lived as a functioning omega for several years already. But he had hoped he would feel his family again, and to get to see them, but not touch or feel them. It was slowly driving him mad all over again.  

It was enough that Peter had decided to leave the house and try his luck in town. He was not ready to try Deaton, since the druid was equally likely to try to banish him as he was to help him if he managed to get his attention. So Stiles it was. He was a spark after all, even if he could not be older than eight. Damn, was he really getting a child involved? But as it was future Stiles fault that he was in this situation to begin with it was not more than fair. Well, maybe not fair, but Peter would sacrifice anyone in a heartbeat to save his family.  And it was no use to get a conscience before he even new if he could get the boy to notice him.

Peter had headed towards the town and he reached it a lot faster than he had counted with. Huh, maybe he had some good ghostly powers as well? He stopped, closed his eyes and concentrated on Stiles. He felt something and opened his eyes. He was in a dark room, looking down on a sleeping boy. It was Stiles.

“Whoa!” Peter hastily backed away, this was not good. If the boy could see him this was not really an ideal first meeting. And the door was shut closed, damn it, this was bad. Peter felt the panic rise and tried to focus on being anywhere else. It did not work. It was like something kept him there. And the boy stared to wake up. Damn it all to hell, Peter quickly looked around the room, and decided that it was best if he just sat down and tried to look as non-threatening as possible.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is from Stiles POV.

Stiles woke up feeling odd. It was also way earlier than he used to wake up. It was summer after all, and he did not need to be anywhere.

“Ugh… Why…?” he mumbled into a pillow trying to fall asleep again. He had stayed up way past bedtime the night before, but he had got stuck in a book and had to read it through. He had fallen asleep dreaming of dragons and epic battles and it had been awesome. He was really not ready to wake up yet.

“I’m sorry to intrude.” Suddenly Stiles was wide awake.

“Wha..” Stiles sat up and saw the man sitting is his chair. A man, in HIS chair. In his room for that matter, this was bad.

“DAD!” Stiles hollered and drew his covers up against his chest in a feeble attempt to feel safer. It did not work.

“He will probably not see me.” The man warned, looking a bit sad and now Stiles noticed that something was off about him. More off than just that he was there in the first place. He looked, faded, like he was an old photograph or something.  

“Stiles?” his dad hurried entered the room. “What’s wrong?” As his dad entered, the stranger got up and left the room, going straight past his dad who did not notice anything.

“What? How… Hey!” Stiles stared after the man, then up at his dad. “Dad, the man…”

“What man?!” Now his dad looked slightly panicked around the room. “Son, are you all right?” His dad sat down at the edge of the bed and Stiles threw himself in to his arms. Too little sleep and the shock of waking up to a stranger present, or maybe a hallucination, made him feel like he really, really needed a hug. Or ten. His dad caught him and held him close, safe. It had to been a dream. The man was gone, his dad did not see him. Just a dream. It had to be.

“A bad dream, I think. I thought I saw a man in my room, but he is gone now, and you are here, and I may have stayed up way to late last night, and there is no man, is there?” Stiles rambled against his dad’s chest, hoping he would just say that everything was fine.

“Hey son, it’s okay, there is no one here but us, and you were alone when I got here.” His dads words were soothing and Stiles slowly calmed down. If his dad said everything was fine, then it had to be true. He was a policeman after all.

 “How about breakfast, hmm?” His dad clearly felt Stiles calm down. “We can try to surprise your mom for a change, I think she’s still asleep.”

“Pancakes?” Stiles looked hopefully at his dad.

“Sure, pancakes it is.” And with that both father and son got up and went downstairs to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally the chapter that kind of was my plot-bunny to start with. But I can apparently not just write kid Stiles wake up to ghost Peter without some back-story first.


	6. Chapter 6

Holy shit, the kid saw him. Peter was profoundly relieved that he had managed to get away before he had driven him into a panic attack. Or maybe Stiles would have been fine, he really was not sure when Stiles’ anxiety issues had started, it was probably later if he got calmed down so quickly. But it was probably for the best to keep out of sight for now.

Peter had found himself in a second bedroom when he looked for somewhere private. The bed was occupied by a sleeping woman, Stiles’ mom Peter presumed. Still alive and healthy what he could see and smell. He looked at her closely, she looked the same faded color that his family had. Now when he thought about it, Stiles had looked the same as well, maybe that his eyes had been clearer, but he was not sure. He had been out of there to fast trying to stay calm and not show that he felt like an exposed nerve ending all over to not scare the boy any further.

Damn, that had not gone as good as he had hoped. It was not catastrophic, but it had been better to first meet somewhere neutral. Like in a park or something. Not in the kids bedroom, where he was asleep. It really was not like him to just experiment like that. Or, it had not been for at least seventeen years. Not since before the fire. Which is in three years, was he reverting to his past self? No, he still remembered everything that happened after. The excruciating pain of the fire, the agonizing years trapped inside his own broken mind and body. The chaos and mayhem after that. Stop, it was not worth thinking about. He was here, he made a mistake, simple as that. He now knew that the kid saw him, and he really should move before he was found in another bedroom.

He heard footsteps of two people going downstairs. He slowly followed, careful not to get too close to Stiles. He found that he didn’t need to worry. Stiles had most likely decided that he only was a bad dream and was rambling about dragons of all things to his father, who sounded quite amused, but also stern when he chastised him for reading so late. With the first bit of luck since Peter had entered the Stilinski home the sheriff went out to get the paper as Stiles disappeared into the kitchen, thus leaving a path out free. Peter seized the moment and was out of there, again passing the sheriff unnoticed.

He did not go far. Just around the house and a bit into the woods behind it. He needed to think, but he wanted to keep an eye out for Stiles. Or an ear, he could still hear the child, but not just his voice, not any actual words. But he still sounded less muted than anything else in this world, so Peter was filled with the first embers of hope. There was someone who could see him, he could work with that. He cautiously tried to find out if he could feel Stiles in any way, but without actually teleporting to him again. First he felt nothing, but when he went a bit further away he felt a resistance he had not felt before, and when he went back it was like something pulled him close faster. So, he had some kind of bond to the kid. Not a pack bond, not nearly as useful as that, but he was sure he would be able to find him if he ever lost him. Well, he probably only needed to concentrate to find himself close to the kid again, but he really did not need to duplicate that fiasco.

No, he needed to learn the routines of the Stilinski household and try to find the best opportunity to meet Stiles without scaring him. But he could not be seen by the kid either, that would fuck the whole thing up. So maybe he needed to start with some experimentation. But away from here. No need to risk Stiles stumbling into anything before Peter was ready to meet him again. Peter started walking back towards his home, fighting the resistance and it kind of got easier with distance, but he felt a constant quiet tugging in his chest, like he was going in the wrong direction.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Four chapters in one day, I think I like this writing thing.

The next week was a busy one for Peter. But busy in a good way. He still tried to keep an eye on his family to see that nothing untoward happened to them when his younger self was off gallivanting the world trying to get to be free and without responsibilities for at least a few weeks in his life. But the Hale family was really normal. The adults got to work, the kids had some summer activities or another and everything was peaceful. It was nice. It gave Peter the time to try to figure shit out.

Like his clothes. He had found that nothing really affected them. They did not get dirty, and when he tried to rip a hole in his shirt it only reverted back again after a brief moment of time. He also found that he could kind of wish them on and off. That was good. Clearly they were bound to him, and not going anywhere. Which was nice since he had not found anything else he could really interact with, so if he lost his clothes he would have to go naked. And that would not go over well when meeting Stiles again.

During his experimentations with his clothing he also found that he could sleep. He didn’t really need sleep, he did not get tired. But it gave him a kind of peace that he sorely needed, so he tried to remember to sleep at least every other day. The discovery that he could sleep was soothing, it gave him a piece of normalcy in a very abnormal situation and he needed that. But he had still not managed to get passed closed doors, so he mostly slept on the couch in the living room. It had to suffice for now.

After he had figured out his clothes he got started with figuring out if he could shift in this reality. He knew he could flash his eyes, and he had dropped both fangs and claws a couple of times in pure frustration, but he had not tried to shift into his wolf. He was a bit scared to do it, what if he could not manage it? Or if he reverted back to his hideous alpha form that he had had when he was crazy. That would be awful. But he did not feel crazy now, so it would probably be alright. It had to be alright. God damn it, he had to stop feel like a nervous puppy and just try it already.

“Here goes nothing.” Peter took a deep breath and focused on his wolf. He imagined how it felt with the earth beneath his paws and the wind in his fur and willed it to happen and let his instincts take over. When he opened his eyes again the world was back to normal, or well, the wolf normal that is, there was not the same range of colors that he usually had as a human, but everything was crisp. And everything smelled right again, and the sounds…! It was fantastic. But maybe a bit worrying, could everyone see him as a wolf? He had shifted a bit into the woods, so he was not afraid of just popping into existence for his family. But his planned surveillance would be so much harder if normal people could see him. But still, if his family could see him like this, maybe he would not need Stiles after all?

He took stock of his body, it was his normal wolf form, and it felt amazing. He decided that he would postpone trying his family again and just run. It was ages since he had just let loose and he god damn deserved it. With that thought he gave in to the wolf and took off into the woods, feeling truly alive for the first time since he had got here.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insomnia is a bitch, but hey, a new chapter! But I’m not sure my therapist will think writing is good for me if I do it instead of sleeping.

It was amazing being a wolf. Peter hadn’t really realized how worried he had been that it would be denied him, so he was not sure how long he lost himself in the preserve. After finally feeling that he had ran enough he worked his way to a small pond that used to be his private place for when the family became too much. Talia probably knew where it was, but she had never said anything and it was understood that this was his place. So he felt confident that it would be left alone even if everyone thought that Peter was off somewhere out in the world. He was probably in France right now. He remembered starting with Europe, and the wine districts in France had been a good happy week. Feeling happy, that was a long time ago. With a huff Peter the wolf lay down on the shore of the pond. Not close enough to get wet, but close enough to immerse himself in the smell of wet grass and underlying earth.

It was probably around lunchtime, but he was not hungry. Even as a wolf he did not feel any specific needs. That probably meant that he was still a ghost. But maybe closer to the real world? He felt closer, more himself, not so shut off. At least his senses were back to normal, that was a small blessing. He got up to look down on his reflection in the still water. He looked like he should, with a very dark grey fur but with a hint of white around his mouth and down his belly. He was gorgeous, if he could say so himself.

He put a tentative paw against the water, it was allowed. Wow, who knew that wet feet would feel like an accomplishment? Usually it would have annoyed him. Wonder if he could swim? Was it worth the risk to try? Maybe he should find a place that was a bit less deep as a first try. He backed off and went around the pond to the small section that had more of a sandy shallow. He really was not the type to go in the deep end. Carefully he stepped out into the water. It was a bit cold, but Peter welcomed the sensation. A few steps in and he was belly deep. The feeling of water all around him was nice, even as a wolf. But when he tried to drink the usual force field was back. So, that was still not allowed. Very well, but he could at least swim. He decided to give in to his wolf again and just enjoy the feeling of cool water for a spell.

After quite a bit of frolicking around in the pond Peter got out and shock as much water out of his fur as possible. It worked better than expected and he was soon completely dry. Huh, useful… Some things with this existence were absolutely convenient. Now, could he swim as a human, or is this something only for his wolf? With a bit more effort than he was used to he felt himself turn back to his more human nature. And with that the same dulled sensation was back. The contrast was worse on this end, he realized that it was a real possibility that he would lose himself to the wolf just because of this feeling. But that was a concern for later. First, could he feel the water like this? It had not worked inside the house, but maybe nature was different.

Peter cautiously put a naked foot into the pond. He could step into it, but the feeling was really disconcerting. He did not get wet. The same fucking force field that seemed to separate him from everything kept the water from his skin and left only a sort of cold sensation. It was not worth to try any more, it was too depressing. He really wanted to get back into his wolfskin, but decided to try get his clothes back first. He had left them outside the house, and it would be really useful if he could teleport them this far. Peter concentrated and after a few moments felt himself once again covered in clothes. Neat. He decided that he needed some time to let the day’s events seek, and forced himself to stay human. He would not loose himself to the wolf, he was stronger than that. And with that thought he started walking back home. Feeling that for once he at least had more successes than disappointments to account for.


	9. Chapter 9

Back at the house Peter found that most of his family was out. Only Talia and Violet were home, and the sisters were sipping wine at the back porch obviously enjoying the quiet. Peter felt at the same time a deep joy at seeing them content and a severe jealousy over not being able to join them for real. He had always felt a bit left out from their bond, both of them so much older than him, but he had never felt as excluded as he did now. And it wasn’t anything he could do about it. Well, he could try the wolf.

Standing at the edge of the garden Peter decided to try. Try one more time to reach his sisters, try to get across this stupid veil that kept him from them. It really was a stroke of luck to find them alone just when he had discovered that his wolf form felt more real. Before he could back out again he focused on the wolf and shifted, not bothering with his clothes. This far they had behaved like he wanted them to and it seemed to work. He was a wolf and no restrictive clothes to be seen anywhere.

Peter approached the two women on silent paws. They did not notice him, but they both looked and smelled amazing. They felt like home, like everything was right in the world. He still could not feel a bond to them, but their familiar smell, so strong for his wolf, was good enough.  They had both gone silent for now, both deep in thought and enjoying the afternoon sun. Peter reached Talia and tried to put his cold nose against her bare leg. Something he mischievously used to do when he wanted her attention as a child. She usually would shriek and then growl at him that it wasn’t funny while he would jump away. But not this time. The god damn force field kept him from her. Even like this. Devastated Peter backed up and gave up heartbreaking howl. It was a howl that contained all of his misery of being so close but still not close enough, of being alone right beside the people that meant the most to him. It was a howl of loneliness, sorrow and a fair bit of desperation.

“Peter?” Talia startled from the chair, looking around franticly. Peter abruptly shut up and sat down. Gaping at his sister. She heard him. She heard him! This was immense, this the biggest stride forward since he got here. She heard him!

“Lia, what’s wrong?” Vi also stood up, “Peter is not here, he is in France, remember?”

“I thought I heard him! He sounded hurt, what if he’s injured?” Talia almost ran for the house, “I have to call him, I knew I shouldn’t let him go away by himself! Anything can have happened!”

“Talia!” Vi hurried after the alpha, leaving a dumfounded Peter in wolf form behind.

Well, this was new. This was probably the first thing he had done that had changed anything. Well, maybe he changed something small with Stiles earlier, but this was something he knew was different. Curiously he followed into the house, the door conveniently still open to the summer breeze.

“Peter! I need you to call me! Immediately when you hear this. I need to know that you are alright, call me!” Talia almost sounded broken when she ended the call.

Whoa, Peter had never seen her like this, not even when their parents had died. She had always been this strong, sure force in his life. Sometimes a bit stifling, but always a rock that never shook whatever he threw at her. Sure, as an adult Peter had understood that Talia probably had more facets to her than just the one he usually saw, but they barely had time to get to know each other as adults. And Peter had been too busy trying to carve a place for himself as something more than just another Hale, another beta, to think of her as something more than his older sister and alpha who acted more like a parent than sibling anyways.

“Lia, please calm down, it is in the middle of the night there. He is either sleeping or partying somewhere or otherwise busy. He is alright. You talked with him just two days ago. Everything is fine.” Violet embraced Talia as she tried to soothe her.

“I know I heard him, it was his howl, but, he sound so, so alone. Like everybody had abandoned him and nothing was right in the world. What if that is how he feels? What if he won’t come home again?” Talia almost broke down in tears.

“Hey now, none of that. Give him a few hours to get back to us. You would have felt if something catastrophic had happened. His bond is still there, don’t you feel it?”

With that Talia calmed down, “your right, but I did hear something. I’ll wait till tomorrow, but if I haven’t heard from him in a day I will send someone after him. Or go myself. Maybe I should visit Alan, he may have an idea of what I heard.”

The two women ventured further in to the house, leaving Peter still chocked in the kitchen. He knew he should follow them, but at the moment he just felt overwhelmed with the whole day. Maybe he should try sleep. Yes, sleep, it was probably more comfortable as a wolf anyway. He only needed a safe space where no one would disturb him. He really was ready to let this day be over and done with.  


	10. Chapter 10

Peter woke up to quite the commotion. Obviously it was a mistake to try and sleep in the house. He had risked the library, it was not usually frequented in the summer, but they rarely felt the need to close the doors. This was kind of a problem right now, when it sounded like everyone was gathering in the living room. Maybe he should had changed back to human before falling asleep, he would probably not noticed anything with the dulled senses as the library was in the other end of the house. But it had felt good curling up in his favorite comfy chair by the window in his wolf form. It was something he used to do when he wanted to be alone but still feel the rest of the family. They usually left him alone when he did that. So it worked. But now he could hear how an impromptu family meeting was taking place. He probably should investigate.

Peter jumped down from the chair with a silent huff. He was not tired, but he felt a bit annoyed getting his maybe a bit cowardly plan of ignoring everything foiled by his family. Especially when he knew they were going to talk about him. And he was not sure if he wanted to know what they were going to say. Peter knew that he was not very easy to like, that he could be seen as ruthless and manipulative. Well, maybe more scheming than ruthless at this day and age, but anyhow not really qualities that made you friends. As he was closer to both Vi and Lia’s kids ages, he had also been treated more like one of the kids than a sibling by his sisters. This was something he had resented growing up, which was why he wanted to move to New York for his degree. He had had a lot of good arguments for it too, like meeting new packs and getting new allies for the Hale family.

That had not worked at all, so he had relented and gone to Stanford like the rest of the family. But as his sisters had come home almost every weekend when they studied, he had nearly only gotten home for the full moons and major holidays. Enough to maintain the pack bonds, but still give him a resemblance of independence. Well, as independent you could get when your family paid for everything, but they had let him stay away. Their parents a lot more resentful for it than Talia and Violet had been after their deaths. Peter had always suspected that was because they really didn’t know what to do with him, but maybe they only had tried to respect his wishes? Peter recalled Talia’s broken voice with a shudder. He really hoped this ages Peter would call soon to ease her suffering. And he hoped they would not call him back. He had loved to travel, and it would be a damn shame if he himself caused this summer indulgence to be cut short.

As he entered the living room he saw that nearly the whole family was gathered. Derek tried to make Cora sit still at the end of the big couch by letting her play with his phone. Peter guessed that Cora was better at it than Derek anyway, he had always mostly used his phones for messaging and calls, and sparsely at that. Laura was off to one chair scowling at her phone, probably irritated that her original plans for the evening had been cancelled and trying to salvage what she could from the situation. Violets oldest, Eloise, were sitting in a window with her nose in a book ignoring the others around her. Her younger brother, Oliver, sitting in the middle of the smaller couch just waiting for something to happen.  Peter thought that Oliver was one of the most zen wolves he had ever known, he probably got that from his father. Both Talia and Violet was standing at the back of the room, clearly waiting for something.

That something had to be Andrew and Joseph, who just entered from the dining room area. They carried what looked like several different kinds of pastries, which indicated that they planned to have a serious discussion. There were always sweets when important stuff needed to be vented. Maybe as a form of bribe to keep the young ones compliant, it was something Talia had introduced when she became alpha. The most annoying part was that it worked. Nothing seemed quite as bad with a cookie. Too bad Peter could not get one now. Everyone that wasn’t already sitting down around the coffee table made their way to either and empty chair or a free couch cushion. Talia cleared her throat.

“We need to talk about Peter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was mainly to get to introduce the people living in the house. Next actual plot progression, I hope, thus far the story kind of goes wherever it wants.


	11. Chapter 11

_We need to talk about Peter._ Talia’s words rang out in the sudden silent room.

“Why?” Eloise sounded both bewildered and confused. She clearly could not see why that statement had caused this level of concern.

“Earlier today… I heard something.” Talia sounded a bit unsure of how to explain things, it was disconcerting, Peter had no idea how to feel.

“I hear a howl that sounded like someone’s world had shattered, like everyone they loved had abandoned them and that they were completely alone in the world. I was sure it was Peter.”

This was met with a stunned silence. Even Cora stopped fidgeting and that child could usually not sit still for more than a few minutes at a time.

“But, he is alright, right?” it was Derek that quietly ask the question. Right, Derek used to like him, Peter had almost forgotten about that.

“I don’t know, his bond is still there, but it is not as strong as I would like it to be, and he has not gotten back to me yet. But it has only gone a few hours, and it is in the middle of the night there, so we just have to wait and see.” Talia sounded resigned. “But that is not really what this meeting is about, or, at least not entirely.” She took a deep breath, “I think we need to try incorporate Peter more into the pack.”

Everyone began to murmur at that, “why? He doesn’t even like us! He tolerates the pack at best, it’s not like he is home more than he absolutely have to!” Laura almost growled the last bit. Like she could not understand how anyone could find the life with the pack suffocating.

“Because, if what I heard was some sort of premonition, or maybe just an echo of his deepest hidden feelings, I clearly have failed as an alpha for him. He is my baby brother, I know he always have been a bit, withdrawn from all of you. But he is still part of the family, and maybe he doesn’t want to be, but he is a wolf. His place is here, and if he doesn’t feel like he belong… It can be why he’s not home as much.”

Peter was stunned, he felt overwhelmed. This was completely new, he was sure Talia had never even thought that Peter’s habit of keeping to himself had been anything other than him feeling superior and maybe being a bit of a dick. And he felt astonished that everyone just _believed_ that what Talia had heard was real. It was absurd. Everything happened too fast. Peter couldn’t take it anymore. He did not want to see the concern, or lack thereof. He felt vulnerable, he hated it. This was too hard, he had gone back in time with the simple plan of finding Kate, kill her and maybe her psychotic father and then either fade away or move somewhere isolated depending on how the universe would react to him changing things. He had not signed up to get to live with his family again, but still outside them. And now they talked about changing _him_. Well, how they treated him, but that was the same. He would change if they changed, for better or worse. He could not take it.

Peter let his animal side take over and ran out of the room as fast as he could. He tried to find a way outside, but there was not even an open window. In his desperation to just flee from everything he did the only thing he could do. He focused on his fragile connection to Stiles and willed himself there. Between one breath and the next Peter suddenly found himself outside the Stilinski house, in their garden, looking at a tent that clearly was occupied by two giggling boys.


	12. Chapter 12

Peter froze. He felt like his world was tumbling apart, and now here he was, in wolf form, separated from the kid by only a thin layer of cloth. If Stiles saw him like this… It was bad, slowly, as silent as he could he backed away and headed towards the wood. He needed to calm down, and not traumatize Stiles in the process. Peter still needed him, but not right now, right now Peter needed to be a wolf. To run and feel the wind in his fur. Maybe that made him a coward, but Peter had never claimed to be brave. He did what needed to be done, and in a way that would be as beneficial as possible for him. And feelings, he hadn’t bothered with feelings in years. Feelings always got you hurt, and it did not seem to be different now. So running away it is. He had time. He had years before anything important needed to change. He could be a wolf for a while. Maybe everything would just, stop.

Peter was not sure how long he spent as a wolf. He ran till he got tired of it, then slept to try soothing his mind and then ran again. He barely noticed how days grew passed, completely giving in to his wolf. He only avoided going towards the kid, even if the connection tugged at him. He was not ready for that.

But he also started to dream. The first time he woke up startled. He had dreamt about talking to Talia on the phone. Of first being panicked, fearing that something had happened to the pack, but then first concerned and later annoyed about being disturbed about something Talia had believed she heard. Like Peter would be feeling lonely, bah, Peter was fine. Peter was always fine, and right now he would squeeze the last bit of enjoyment out of the summer before he needed to take on any responsibilities.

When he woke up from that he had almost changed back to human, it was sometimes easier to think as human, but he pushed the feelings away. He didn’t want to deal with it yet. But the dreams kept coming, so he stopped sleeping. Instead he found himself spying on the boy. He only went there at night, listening on the humans inside sleeping. Sometimes Stiles stayed up late, either clicking away at his computer, or reading something or other. It was nice, hearing normal life and not feeling like he had to care about the people living inside. Stiles was just a means to an end. Peter only needed to find a good way to introduce himself to the boy and then he could get him to tell Talia that Kate would be bad news in a couple of years. And that she probably should be taken care of preemptively.

Damn, could he make that request? Stiles was smart, he would probably realize what that meant even if he was just a kid. His dad was the sheriff for god’s sake, or well, not yet. But he was still a deputy, and Stiles probably knew more than he should about his dads work. At least if he was anything like his future self.  Maybe he should wait to think about that. First he needed to open up communications, and since he avoided his family right now he could just go on with the plan of talking to Stiles. The kid could at least see him, no need to involve heartbreak and feelings at all.

Peter started to feel more like himself again. He ruthlessly repressed anything that was not his proclaimed mission. Get Stiles to talk to him without scaring the boy to death. Maybe try meeting him as a wolf? Kids like dogs right? Sure, he did not really look like a dog, but maybe Stiles would not know that, at least if he tried to behave like one. Could he do that? Peter shuddered at the thought, that was really beneath him, but means to an end and all that jazz. Maybe he should just suck it up. It was not like anyone that mattered would see him. And just maybe, maybe Stiles could touch him. Peter felt an immense longing at that thought. He really was used to be alone, but being back, he had not realized how much he missed the casual touches of his family before he only could see it without participating. But that was for later, first, observe and find an opportunity.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More from Stiles POV.

The dog was back. Stiles was getting really curious about it. When he first saw it he had been sure that it was a wolf, but when he asked his dad about it he had said that there were no wolves in California, and that it probably just was a husky that had gotten loose. Stiles had not been sure and tried his mother instead. It had been so much cooler if it had been a wolf. But his mom had explained that wolves really did not like to be close to humans, and if there were any wolves in California they would keep to themselves. So he did not need to worry about it.

Stiles felt that both his parents missed the point, he was not worried about the dog, or wolf, whatever. He was curious. No one else seemed to have seen it. It only showed itself when Stiles was alone, or disappeared back into the shadows when he tried to point it out to anyone. So clearly the dog, wolf, wolfdog? had chosen Stiles for something. So Stiles had set up a trap. Well, he had taken a day off hanging out with Scott and instead spent it alone in the garden, trying not to show how much off his focus was on the woods. And it had worked! It was back, and clearly observing him.

Stiles tried not to stare, but it was hard. It was magnificent, with deep dark grey fur and a hint of white around its mouth and down the neck and belly. Stiles wanted to pet it so bad, but if it was a wolf that was a bad idea, and if it was a dog it needed to take the first step. He did not want to scare it away. It could not really be a wolf, he really hoped it was a dog, because if it was a dog and he got it to come close enough to catch it maybe he could keep it. That would be awesome! But if it was a dog it probably belonged to somebody, but he could maybe get to dogsit it or something. He would at least be rewarded for finding it. Or, what if the owners had been abusive? That could explained why it was out here alone, it had ran away and now wanted a new owner.

Stiles had gotten so caught up in his fantasies of saving the dog and keeping it that when he looked up again he startled as the dog was right before him.

“Whoa, you are way too quiet!” Stiles instinctively scooted back a bit. No! Bad instincts, he did not want to scare the dog.

“Sorry, you startled me.” Stiles tried to sound soothing, like he was no threat, whiles keeping calm. Close up the dog was massive. It really looked like a wolf, but it did not behave like one, so it was probably safe. What if it was not safe, what if it wanted to eat him?

“You are not going to eat me are you?” Stiles looked at it suspiciously, it looked back with an innocent expression. Like, it could eat him but it would never think the though, or something. It looked a bit like Stiles felt when he tried to get away with something. That was really expressive for a dog.

“You are really big, are you a dog? Or a wolf? You look like a wolf, but my parents say that there are no wolves in California, at least not anywhere humans can see them. And I can clearly see you, so maybe you are a dog after all.” As he steadily talked in a, for him, calm voice he crept closer. Trying to make his movements clear so the dog would not be startled. He slowly stretched out a hand, hoping he would not lose it. It had really large teeth, but Stiles was not a coward, and he wanted to pet it.

Cautiously the dog got closer and sniffed his hand, when Stiles held still it seemed to find its confidence and pressed a cold nose against his hand. Stiles giggled, he felt like he was Steve Irwing, this was the best thing all summer! With a small bark the dog licked his face and then grinned and ran back out to the woods.

"Awesome.” Stiles was thrilled, it had to be a dog. And it liked him! Now he just needed to get his parents to let him keep it. Well, after he became friends with it for real, but he was sure it would come back. But maybe he should plan a few more days of being alone in the garden, just to be sure.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoa, over 10k, and I have barely gotten anywhere. But first real contact! Whop!

He could touch him! Peter was almost giddy with the sensation. Ha had had to run away before he did something stupid like presenting his belly to be rubbed. But, touch! The moment when his nose actually had reach Stiles hand had been almost ecstatic, it really was good that Stiles was only a kid, Peter could have fallen in love for less. And that would be really embarrassing, he had some dignity left.

When he felt like he was far enough away Peter changed back to human. He now managed to get his clothes back as he changed, it was convenient, and would be helpful if he needed to shift in front of the boy. He had followed him for about two weeks, showing himself at moments when only Stiles was looking, careful about not to give away that no one else could see him. And it worked, the kid had been curious and at last given Peter an opportunity. It had been so obvious what Stiles was doing, but he had to give it to the kid. He did go after what he wanted, and when he had realized that Peter would not show himself when he was with others he had given him an opportunity to meet him alone.

And he was brave! Peter had heard how Stiles’ hearth had raced when he realized how big he was. And he still had reach out to him. He had even tried do suppress his fear, very admirable of a boy of only eight years. Human at that and oh so very fragile. Peter almost felt a need to protect the boy. He scowled to himself, god damn it, no feelings! This was a good start, since he could touch Stiles he could continue to get close as a wolf, and as soon Stiles liked him enough he would reveal himself as a man. That had to give him at least a chance to explain himself to the boy. Surely his curiosity and childish mind would marvel at the sight of a werewolf. But he needed to build up to it, and if that meant that he had to let Stiles pet him, no one needed to know.

Peter then considered looking in on his family. He had avoided them ever since he had fled from the house and was not sure if he was ready to see what had happened. He knew that they had made contact with this days Peter, his dreams had to be based on what happened. But he hated the dreams, he had changed so much since he was that boy who now had to live with the changes that he had brought here. And he kind of resented himself for feeling annoyed at the worry from Talia, like it was a burden that his alpha cared for him. Oh how that would change when everything he had taken for granted was taken from him. But right now he behaved like a selfish ass that Peter really would like to smack down a peg. It was, a bit, odd. Feeling like he needed a good talking to, and at the same time really dread the dreams that would show him how he reacted to everything. And the feeling of the bonds to his pack, it was excruciating. So Peter avoided the whole mess by staying awake and focusing on Stiles. It was easier that way. And if today’s Peter got his way he would not be back before August anyway. So his family could wait. At least a few more weeks.


	15. Chapter 15

The next day Peter observed Stiles from the woods. It was a beautiful day and Stiles and Scott was outside throwing a baseball to each other while talking about everything that came to mind. Stiles had talked about him, first as a dog, and then as a possible dog/wolf hybrid and then he had gone on a tangent on how there had been wolves in California before, but the last one had been killed in 1924, and that was sad. People really was kind of awful towards other predators, did Scott think it was fear or greed? Scott really did not have an opinion, but he agreed that it was a bit sad that they had killed all the wolves, but he really did not want to have wolves running around in the neighborhood, and was Stiles really sure it was a good idea to befriend something that could be part wolf?

“Pfff, it will be fine! He will be my friend, and then we can have adventures, like White Fang, but with a lot less fighting.” Stiles sounded sure of himself. Peter was kind of glad that Stiles seemed convinced of his friendliness. It was so much easier to work with an open mind than with someone suspicions.  

“If you are sure…” Scott on the other hand sounded really skeptic, like he did not like the sound of a big dog at all. It was probably for the best that Scott couldn’t see Peter, he had tried earlier when Scott was on his way to Stiles but gotten no reaction.

“Hey, it will be okay, he is really friendly, a bit skittish, but friendly. Well, I’m not sure he is a he, but I kind of got tired of calling him an it you know.”

“I’m sure the dog won’t care if you call it a girl or a boy, dogs only care about how you treat them, not what you say.” Scott sounded a bit amused by the last tidbit from Stiles.

“Yeah, but I really should check, but it feels kind of invasive to just look to see if he has a dick.” Stiles wrinkled his nose, “how would I even achieve that? I haven’t even gotten to pet him yet!”

“You need to earn his trust, have you tried feeding him? Food usually works with animals, you can even get to pet a cat if there is food involved.”

Damnit, Peter could not eat. He hadn’t even been able to put food in his mouth, either as a wolf or a human. He could barely pick stuff up for brief moments of time, and they always ended up back where he had taken them from. Hopefully Stiles would only think that he was a picky eater, but it could be a serious setback.

“Good idea! But what should I get him? I don’t want to buy dog food, I haven’t asked mom and dad if I can keep him yet, and it sure would make them suspicious if they found dog food in my room.”

After that the boys got into a discussion about whether sausage could be used or if he should get real meat. Scott firmly believed that dogs ate anything while Stiles was more unsure. Peter just hoped that Stiles would stick with sausages, because being forced to refuse good meat just seemed cruel. He really missed eating. And hunting, it really was not any fun when the prey both did not know that he was there and also was safe from him. It made his teeth itch.  

Then the boys were called in for lunch, and they did not get out again. Peter really hoped that Scott would go home soon, and that Stiles would get out alone. He felt impatient to meet Stiles for real once more, and maybe he would deal better with touching today. He lay down and waited. He had gotten really good at that.


	16. Chapter 16

Stiles was almost bouncing with nerves when he went outside after dinner. He had sent Scott back home earlier, since he wanted to make circumstances as similar to yesterday as possible. And therefore, he needed to be alone. Scott had agreed, but demanded that he’d call him later to tell how it went. Stiles had said he would try, but that depended on how late it got. He wasn’t allowed to use the phone after eight, and that was only two hours away. Stiles really hoped that the dog would show himself quickly. He maybe should had gone out earlier, but he did not want to exile Scott too quickly, besties before dogs after all. And he did not want to make his parents suspicious, at least not yet. He was sure that they would have to agree to keep the dog if Stiles had already bonded with him, and therefore he needed to be friends with him first, before saying anything. He just needed to show up first.

Stiles sat down under the tree behind his room, sitting so the tree at least partially blocked him from view from the house. Ha had brought his latest batman comic and was prepared to wait. They hadn’t had any food that could be used to bribe a dog, so today he just needed to be patient. But it was hard! Stiles was really bad at waiting for stuff. He tried to immerse himself into the story, but it was hard when he felt that his life was more interesting for a change. Maybe he should try to look for the dog in the woods? But that thought made Stiles a bit uncomfortable, he felt that the dog in his garden was a lot safer than finding it looking like a wolf in the woods. Like, he had to be a dog, because all evidence from his behavior was really doglike, but in the woods it felt like the possibility that he was a wolf was drastically higher. A bit silly perhaps, but he stayed put.

After maybe ten to twenty minutes Stiles finally settled down enough to actually read the story. He had read it before, he was not a person to wait on something good, but he liked reading comics several times. You always found some new detail you had missed before. Suddenly something cold pressed against the back of his hand.

“Whoa!” Stiles was abruptly brought back from the grisly world of Gotham City and was looking straight into the ice blue eyes of the dog. “You are still way too quiet!” The dog seemed to laugh at him, but did not back away.

“Hey, can I pet you? I really, really want to pet you.” Stiles tentatively brought up his hand to be sniffed. The dog complied and after he had investigated the hand he ducked under it so Stiles more or less was forced to stroke his head.

“You are really friendly today, have you been lonely? What happened to you, you should have a family that cares for you and feed you and love you, how come you are here all alone?”

 As Stiles talked with a soothing tone he carefully stroked the dogs head and back. He seemed well nourished and his fur was spotless and cared for. He really did not look like he had been abused or mistreated, maybe he had just gotten lost? The dog seemed to really like his petting at least, he was not a bit feral. Which was odd, if he actually liked people, why had he taken so long to get close? Maybe he had been abandoned? But how could he then look so cared for?

“You are a bit of a mystery, you know that do you? Nothing about you makes any sense, but you seem to like me at least? Do you like me? Do you want to stay with me? I’m sure that I can convince my parents that I should get to keep you. It can be a way to show that I can be responsible or something. They always complain that I’m never finishing anything, but if I had you I have to keep walking you and stuff, since you are alive and all that. Can’t have you making a mess in the house after all. Do you want to come inside with me?”

Stiles almost hugged the dog at the end of that rant, trying to get to all the good spots that needed to be scratched. The dog kind of leaned into him, so Stiles interpreted that as he liked it. But at the last question the dog nuzzled his neck and then backed away.

“Okay, not ready to get inside yet, I’m really not surprised, but I feel bad for you sleeping outside. Or do you have a home you go to after visiting me? Why do you visit me if you have a home? Do they not pet you enough?”

With that the dog huffed, still looking amused and then licked him across his cheek before running back into the woods, just like yesterday.

“Feel free to come back tomorrow! I’ll try to be alone after dinner, but I would really like if I got to show you to Scott, so it’s really fine if you come earlier.” Stiles shouted after the disappearing dog.

“Sweetie? Who are you talking to?” Suddenly his mom appeared from around the tree. Darn, he could not lie to his mom, he could omit to tell her stuff, but he could not lie.

“Well… How much against are you of me adopting a possible abandoned dog who only seems to like me?” He asked trying to look really innocent.

“That seem to be a question we should discuss the whole family, don’t you think? A dog is a huge responsibility, are you sure you are ready for that? And it’s getting late, it’s time for you to get ready for bed. Hop to it mister.”

“Okay, but I really like this dog. He is gorgeous and friendly and he loves to be petted, but he is a bit shy so I haven’t gotten him to show himself to anyone but me so far.  But I really like him, so please be on my side? Pretty please? I promise to do all my chores without complaining if I just get to keep him.” Stiles got up and followed his mother inside. Promising to himself to be at his best behavior for the foreseeable future. Maybe even cleaning his room without any prompting. He couldn’t have anything out if he got the dog anyway, so it did not hurt to show himself willing to be good.


	17. Chapter 17

Peter was torn, it had felt so good with physical contact that he had let his animal side take over and just went for it. And for a brief moment he had wanted to stay with Stiles, had wanted to be cared for and not so alone anymore. If he had been able to show himself as a wolf to other people he maybe would have went for it. But he could not, and now he needed to show Stiles who he really was before the kid got too invested. It was probably already too late, but he was sure it had been too early the day before. And now he felt a craving for more contact. He was tempted to just string the boy along for a few more days, just to get to pretend for a little while that not everything was completely fucked up. To forget that he was essentially an exile from the world and that probably already had made a mess of his own life in some way or another.

How was he even going to do it? He couldn’t just walk up to the boy and shift, that would scare him to death, but what choice did he have? He supposed that he could show himself when others where present, to make it clear that there was something odd about him, but then others would think that Stiles was crazy. And that was a bad thing. If someone managed to convince Stiles that he was not real then what could he do? Except drive the kid mad, but that would not help anyone, least of all Peter. Why did he have to be so young? Peter had no problems threaten or even hurt teenagers, they were nearly adults anyway, but he had never done anything to kids. He didn’t really like most kids, but they should be protected. They should be kept safe, and here he was, trying to make Stiles his spokesperson to Talia. That would not be safe. Man, he almost missed adult Stiles, he would have a plan by now. Why the hell could he not go back himself? This was stupid, he hated to feel like all his choices were bad. He probably would give the kid nightmares whatever he did, and then he would never get back scratches again.

Peter made his way toward his private pond. It had become his place of solace, a place where he could ignore everything if he felt the need. He had shifted back to human, he had spent way too much time as a wolf lately and he didn’t want to forget why he was here. He needed to stay focused, not get all caught up in stupid wants and wishes. And maybe he needed to decide what he should tell Stiles to get his help. And to get him to believe that Peter told the truth about him being from the future. Werewolves were one thing, that he could prove easily, but time travel? That was a hard sell. And should he tell the boy that he had magic? Last time it didn’t manifest till he was at least sixteen after all. But how could he otherwise explain why Stiles could see him and not anyone else? It had been so much easier if Talia had been the one to see him. So, so much easier.

Maybe he should check in on things at the house again. After all, if things changed enough then maybe he would stop being a manipulative bastard, and Derek would not get Paige killed, and then Kate would not have it so easy getting information out of him. Ugh, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to stop being a manipulative bastard, he only wanted today’s Peter to not make the same mistakes that he did, and instead of manipulating his family focus on other people. Maybe he should try sleeping again, it was probably time to stop being so cowardly and just see how he was. And it only was him avoiding making a choice, who was there to blame him. No one, that was kind of the problem to start with.

With a small huff, Peter lay down and forced himself to sleep. It was surprisingly easy, maybe because he had been awake for so long. With a final thought of how he hoped that nothing too emotional had happened, he fell asleep.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set a few weeks before the last chapter, about a couple of days after Talia got up in arms and decided to do something about Peter.

Peter was angry. First Talia calls from out of the blue and is _worried_ about him, and now he have to entertain his god damn niece for two weeks. And not the good one, but stupid bratty Laura who thinks way too highly of herself, just because she is the probable next alpha. Bah, if Peter gets his will Talia will keep her position till at least her sixties. At least then Laura will get a change to grow up, or Peter will have time enough to either get the alpha spark himself or at minimum learned enough how to cope on his own that he won’t need to be home too much. He can always try to get to be the pack diplomat or something.

Well, he kind of is that all ready, but dealing more with fixing problems any way possible and not only the respectable talking. He was not even sure how much Talia new about how he dealt with problems. He did not want her to know how good he was at fighting. It kind of suited him that she still though that he was mostly harmless. Except now that had gotten back at him bad. God damn Laura, and she had volunteered, something about getting to travel Europe without the hassle of actually planning anything. And she wants to be alpha!

Peter scowled irritably at the other people waiting for the arrivals at Amsterdam Airport. He had not planned going through the Netherlands at all, but that was where the most convenient flight for Laura was landing, so he had to adapt. What the hell should he do with her? So far his travels had consisted of him sniffing out local supernatural stuff by day and going out to either go bar hopping or getting into a fight if the local supernatural stuff was not keen on having Peter finding out all of their secrets. He really could not take Laura with him for that. Well, he could take her drinking, after all, it was legal here, and maybe she would be easier to stomach if he got her drunk. He had found a sweet wolfsbane additive that gave wine just the right potency. The wolves of France did really have their priorities straight. He had even gotten some seeds to take back home, and a nice box to smuggle them with, customs not all that keen on taking unknown seeds over the border.

“Peter!” Laura’s voice rang out over the general commotion of the airport. “Hi! How are you, have you waited long? The flight took forever. Please tell me that you have gotten us rooms somewhere, I am beat.”

“Hello Laura, I am fine, and no, I have not rooms, considering I have been in this city for at least a day longer than I wanted we are taking the train to Berlin in two hours.” Peter tried to at least sound neutral, but he suspected that he came off as snide.

“But Peter, I have traveled for 10 hours, I don’t want to travel any more, I want to sleep!” Laura almost pouted. “Can’t we go tomorrow, what does one more day matter?”

“It matter since I said so, it was not my idea for you to come crashing my vacation, and I am going to Berlin. Since I promised Talia to take you with me, you are coming. Or you can make your own plans and have your spontaneous two week vacation by yourself.” Peter felt like he left neutral territory way behind him, but why did she have to be so annoying? She had to know he had gone along with this only to appease Talia.

“Fine, at least tell me its first class. I can probably sleep on the train.”

“Of course its first class, I am not a heathen.” To be fair, Peter had traveled quite cheaply most of the time, he wanted so spare his money to buy stuff and to live moderately nice. But since Laura was coming with him he had gotten Talia to pay for transfer and board, at least he got something out of it.

The two of them tried to be cordial to each other in the taxi to the train station, and well onboard Laura promptly went to sleep. This was going to be two long weeks. Peter was fed up already.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only a short one today, have gotten hooked on a new game, so have spent way too many hours trying to not get my people to freeze to death, if you like city-builder games with a doomsday twist give Frostpunk a go.

Peter woke up with a groan. A lot had changed in his life, and he was pretty sure it had gotten worse than before. Talia had not been satisfied with a simple phone call but had sent Laura to check up on him. Laura! The two of them barely managed to be civil to each other with the whole pack present, why the hell had Talia thought that that was a good idea? Peter would probably know that is he had just stayed at the house, but anyway. The trip had become a disaster, well, for Peter at last. Laura seemed to have enjoyed herself, but then had the trip also been more or less pure vacation with only a small bit of exiting lore instead of the other way around. So Laura had fun and Peter was bored out of his mind. And here Peter was quite cross with himself, because if he had only talked to Laura and explained that he really wanted to find out if wolpertingers were real when in Germany and that therefore he needed to talk to all kinds of people, supernatural and human both.

But Peter didn’t want to confess his profound love for the weird and obscure. And he didn’t want to show how good he was at getting the information he wanted, any means allowed. So he had said nothing, and they had mainly done normal tourist stuff where Peter had feigned that it was what he had planned all along. Because hell if his family got to know him for real. God damn it. So now the young Peter resented his pack more than before, and that just because they cared about him. If Peter would ever be able to talk to himself he would call him a stubborn ass. And then tell him that wolpertingers are very real, and cute as hell, and quite good at stealing stuff.

 At least they had shared a common ground in wanting to try all the different beers, so young Peter did have some fun, but not enough to compensate for the lost opportunities. Peter really needed to fix that somehow. When he came back from his vacation he had been full of new secrets and had a bag full of books and small artifacts and that had been enough to brighten his regular demeanor so he had gotten along with almost everybody for the rest of the year. Peter highly doubted that he would be as nice this time around. Sure, it was only two weeks of two months total, but he would still be annoyed. And god knows that Peter could hold a grudge.

“Stupid, stupid stupid! Why the hell did Talia have to hear me when I had a small breakdown? Why the hell did I have to feel stuff? Stupid family, stupid magic, stupid bloody Stiles for messing up the spell that sent me here!” Peter shook of the dream and began to walk towards the Stilinski residence. He really needed to get to communicate with Talia. So he needed Stiles, and damn it, he would get Talia to pay for the kid’s therapy if necessary, but he would come clean today. One way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Wolpertinger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolpertinger) is a mythological creature from Germany. Way cute, I find Peter’s quest of finding one very sweet, and very much something he would not like to share with his family. It would seriously hamper his cool.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had really planned to get Peter to reveal himself to Stiles this chapter, but then breakfast happened and I kind of felt that Stiles and his dad needed a bit of time together. 
> 
> Also, I have no idea how capable an eight year old is, it feels like half the time I take writing this story is me looking up stuff about children.

Stiles was giddy with excitement when he woke up the next day. His parents had agreed to at least let him take in the dog while they tried to find his owners. They did not agree to let him keep him if the owners was bad, or couldn’t be found, but Stiles was sure that they would change their minds if Stiles just played his cards right. So it was a good first step. Or, prelude to a step, he still needed to convince the dog to be kept.

His mom had already left for work when he got down to the kitchen, but his dad was home making breakfast. He secretly loved when it was dad that made breakfast, because then there was the possibility of pancakes. His mother had no patience of cooking in the morning and when it was her responsibility he usually had to settle for cereal. His dad would at the least make eggs. But today seemed like a pancake day.

“Pancakes!”  Stiles excitedly stumbled into the kitchen, his dad laughed at him.

“Good morning to you too, slept well?”

“Oh, good morning,” Stiles tried to calm down a bit, he should look responsible, “I slept fine, how about you? When do you need to go to work?”

“Well, I have the late shift today, so I go in about three,” he handed him a plate with pancakes and fresh blueberries. “That means that you have two hours alone before Claudia gets back. Do you want to spend them with Mrs. Morillo or do you want do visit your mom at the library?”

This was a hard choice, he liked spending time at the library, sure his mom usually did not have that much time for him, but she always did find something interesting for him to read while he was there, but if he stayed with Mrs. M there was a chance that his dog would find him early. She usually let him stay in the garden as long as he didn’t wander away, and the dog would surely not be confused in he was one house over. He had found him in town before after all.

“I think Mrs. M today,” he dug into his pancakes. Dad’s breakfast was the best.  

“Sure thing, I assume that you hope a certain four-legged companion will find you there?” His dad finished the pancakes for himself and sat down across Stiles. “You have to ask Mrs. Morillo that she is okay with dogs before you try to lure him in. If she is not comfortable I want you to stay indoors, you understand me?”

Stiles frowned at that, if he couldn’t be outdoors he would prefer the library, was it worth the risk? “Sure… do you think she will be okay…?”

“Well, she is tuff as nails, so I’m sure it will be no problem, but it is always important to ask. And she is quite old, and we don’t want her to suffer a heart attack if the dog surprises her.”

“…Yeah, that would be bad, she still hasn’t taught me how to make her empanadas, and she makes them differently than Melissa.” Stiles quite liked Mrs. M, she was an awesome cook, and since both his parents were more enthusiastic than good he had made it his mission to learn everything he could from Mrs. M. He would not grow up to be only good at making breakfast food, his dad, or a few special polish recipes, his mum.

So far Mrs. M didn’t really let him do much in the kitchen, she thought that he was a bit too young to handle the stove, but she had taught him how to cut onions without chopping any digits off, and to measure stuff by eye and she also let him taste as she cooked to learn how different spices could change something from good to awesome. He had even managed to let him copy all recipes that she felt he had seen her do enough times that when he was a bit older would manage without making a mess of everything.

“That’s the reason you don’t want her to suffer a heart attack? Only her cooking?” His dad teased him.

“Well… She can be a bit grumpy when not in the kitchen, so I would mainly miss that.”

His dad laughed, “well, she is old. You can’t expect her to have as much patience with your antics as me and your mom has, now can you?”

Stiles pouted at him, he did not have antics, he was just a bit, scatterbrained. And that had gotten a lot better since he got Adderall.

“Finish your breakfast son, and remember that you promised to do all your chores before play yesterday.”

Right, showing that he could be responsible it was. Stiles nodded and stuffed his mouth full of pancake. This would be a good day. He had a plan, he could maybe get a dog and he could probably get his dad to play catch after his chores. This could be a very good day.


	21. Chapter 21

Peter was nervous. He had been at Stiles home for half a day by now, but the boy would not seem to be left alone for the life of him. He had first moved the lawn as his father did something with the rosebushes. Peter thought it was a bit odd that Stiles did the heavy stuff, but maybe roses were finicky things that young boys could not deal with. And Stiles seemed quite determined to do a good job without complaining. After the garden work both Stilinskis had vanished into the house again, probably to get lunch. They had not gotten out again.

Peter had decided to stay human until Stiles was alone, so he had not the benefit of hearing what happened inside. This mainly to not get tempted to show himself as a wolf when his dad was there, Peter did not want to out himself as not quite there by getting Stiles father to question his sanity. What Peter remembered of the Sheriff was that he was a no nonsense kind of guy and had not believed anything without proof. And that Peter could not give him. Or well, he could tell Stiles that his mother had an incurable disease that she would die from in about two years. Peter really did not want to tell Stiles that. He would at least want to talk to Talia about maybe giving them some options before dropping that bombshell on the young boy.

Maybe he could tell Stiles that his dad would be Sheriff in a year, surely that was something Stilinski had thought about but probably not talked about with Stiles. So that was a better alternative. But better if the Sheriff stayed out of it for now. Peter had already decided that he would approach as a wolf and then transform. Hopefully Stiles would continue with all the questions so he could use that as an excuse to transform so he could answer. It was not the best idea, but well, there were no good ideas. If only he had not first showed up in his bedroom, he was afraid that had put him irrevocably in the creepy category. And that was not a good place to be when dealing with young boys. And the year of the abhorrent reveal of what had been going on in the Catholic Church too. So it was not unrealistic to believe that at least his dad had talked about what bad men could do and that Stiles should be on his guard.

As Peter got more and more anxious Stiles finally got out of the house alone, just to promptly go over to the neighbor. When the hell was he going to stay outdoors? Sure, all the other times had been after dinner, but come on, Scott was not here so why the hell did Stiles not take the opportunity? Maybe it was best to listen in on the neighbor at least. Peter shifted to wolf form and crept closer.

“…and he really is a nice dog, so if it is alright by you can I please try to get him to visit here?” Stiles sounded exited and very nervous. A female answered that it was alright by her but she refused to give up any of the chicken she was preparing for dinner. But he could take a bowl with water if he wished.

“Thank you!” After a few more minutes Stiles got out on the back and sat down a red bowl with water. The neighbor did not have any convenient trees that shielded Stiles from view, but Stiles seemed determined to try anyway. Well, he probably didn’t think he needed to hide since he obviously had told the woman what he was doing. When Peter looked into the house he saw a figure in a window, it seem to be the kitchen and the lady was quite old and only glanced out at Stiles from time to time, but she seemed sharp. Peter decided to wait a bit longer, Stiles was obviously agitated, but he hoped that the woman would stop paying attention if nothing happened for some time.

Stiles seemed to realize that he probably needed be patient and got up and disappeared into the house again only to get out a moment later with a book and some cookies.  Well good, now surely the woman would relax a bit more. Peter gave it half an hour, the woman stayed in the kitchen but was now further in. So Peter didn’t want to wait any longer. He felt like if he did not go there now, he never would. He hated doing stuff where the outcome was so unsure. Here goes nothing, slowly Peter left the woods and approached the boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They will meet tomorrow! Promise. And talk and everything.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really long chapter this time, but Peter and Stiles finally talk to each other! Progress!

Stiles had finally managed to settle down. He had had to go in and get a book once he realized that the dog would not magically appear just because Stiles wanted him to. And Mrs. M had generously given him some cookies. They were oatmeal cookies so they would not be harmful toward the dog. Stiles preferred chocolate chip, but right now he was happy with oatmeal. He did not want to poison the dog after all, and it was not nice to not share.

A few chapters in Stiles heard a low whine. He looked up and the dog was there! But the dog seemed more nervous than the day before, probably because of the new place. He cautiously came closer. 

“Hey there, don’t be afraid. I have to stay with Mrs. M when my parents are at work.” Stiles reached out a hand, it had worked the other days after all. “Hey, do you want a cookie, it is oatmeal, Mrs. M made them, I’m learning too, but so far she won’t let me use the oven.”

Suddenly, instead of a wolf there was a man in front of him. He was sitting in the exact same spot the dog had stood. He looked kind of old, about his dad’s age, and his colors were all wrong. Like a faded picture. He felt like he had seen this before but could not remember where at the moment.

“Whoa! How the hell did you do that?!” Stiles felt like the moment deserved the swear, he backed up a bit but did not rise. He felt his heart hammer franticly in his chest, but he was not really afraid. After all, the man had been a dog, a really big dog, and had not done anything against him as such so he probably was not dangerous.

“Well Stiles, I am a werewolf, so changing from wolf to man is kind of my thing, and I would love a cookie but sadly I can’t eat right now.” The man spoke softly, like he did not want to spook him and looked both nervous and kind of relieved. Like something had gone better than expected. Well, it probably had, Stiles had neither run away nor screamed, so probably a success. His eyes were really blue, like the one bit of clear color on the whole man.

“Why can’t you eat? Why do you look like that? Why me?!” The last question was most important to Stiles, he had really wanted to know that about the dog, wolf, whatever, and now it was even more surreal. A werewolf(!) wanted to talk to him! Stiles! And, werewolf! This was even better than dragons! Well, if werewolves were real maybe dragons were too?

“Ah, you see, I’m kind of not here. Or well, I am here, but I can’t interact with anything. No one sees me, except you, think of me like a ghost.” The man looked sad at that. Wow, Stiles the ghostbuster!

 “I can see ghosts?! Wait, ghost, are you dead? You did not feel dead, not as a wolf anyway.” Stiles could not contain himself and curiously poked the man’s leg. He felt solid, but also kind of odd. Like, he could feel that something was there but not what. There was no texture or temperature or anything. Only something, solid.

The man raised an eyebrow. “Well, I am not dead, I think. It is quite possible that I am dead but since I don’t believe in ghosts I really hope not. And then this would be quite the disappointment for an afterlife, don’t you think?”

Stiles though about that, he almost felt insulted, but well, if he died and only could talk to one stranger he probably would not be happy about it either.

“You are a werewolf but don’t believe in ghosts? Is that not a bit, narrow-minded of you?” He decided to ignore the ghost but not really a ghost for the more important question first.

The man laughed, “well, I have always been a werewolf but have never seen any evidence at all that ghosts are real, so I’m sure I’m right. And if there were ghosts surely I would have encountered some in this form?” The man seemed more relaxed now.

“Have you been like that long? Like, I have seen your wolfiness for a few weeks, but that is not time enough to decide that you are the only ghost around. And if you didn’t die how did you end up like that? And still, why me?!” Stiles furrowed his brows, he still felt like he had forgotten something.

“Hmm, it has been about a month. I’m not sure why I’m like this, but the spell that sent me here went wrong somehow. I’m sure it was not intentional that the only one I can communicate with is an eight year old boy.” The man scowled, clearly annoyed at that fact. “As for why you can see me I guess it is because you have magic.”

“I have magic?!” Stiles squeaked. Suddenly everything else was unimportant, this was about him!

“Well, you have de possibility of magic at least, you can become quite powerful when you are older with the right training.”

“Like Harry Potter? Are there a special school? Do I have to leave my home? I don’t want to leave, my parents would never allow it, and I can’t change schools, Scott would not survive without me!” Stiles first excitement began to warp into panic, he could not go, who would then make sure that Scott had his inhaler?!

“Stiles, calm down. There is no magic school, at least none that I know of. And it is years before you need to think about it. You have a spark that right now allows you to see me, but you do not need to worry about it. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you, but…” Here the man hesitated, like he didn’t know how to finish the sentence.

“Of course you should tell me! It’s about me!” Stiles huffed, like it was this man’s business to keep secrets about him, that was unacceptable.

“Sure, but you are so young. I don’t want you to do stuff that draw attention to you. There are people out there that would love to get their hands on a young defenseless spark.” The man seemed like he had to suppress a growl, Stiles had a suspicion that the man suppressed his feelings a lot, only giving hints of them away.

“What kind of…” Stiles began.

“Wait.” The man hushed him. “The woman that lives here is coming out, I don’t think she’s seen anything weird about you, but we should probably keep it like that. How about you try to look like you are reading your book and we see what she wants, okay?”

“Wha…? Ehm, sure.” Stiles did as he was told. If nothing else, he really did not want to explain to Mrs. M why he was talking to thin air. Well, if the man told the truth and no one else could see him. But, if Mrs. M could see him she would probably already been out here shouting.

“Stiles, mijo, it’s time for you to go home and have dinner.” Mrs. M called him from the door. Not seeing anything odd at all apparently.

Woah, times moves fast. “Okay Mrs. M.” Stiles gathered his things, and tried to communicate with the man to meet him on the other side of the house. The man ignored him and just followed instead. Well, that was one solution he supposed.

Stiles went into the house putting everything away, thanking Mrs. M for the cookies and feigning disappointment that the dog had not showed up. Well, that mess he had totally forgotten about. How was he supposed to explain all this to his parents? He got out of there as quick as possible, pretending to be hungry. As soon as he had closed the door behind him, well, after making sure that the man was out too, he hissed “what do I tell my parents?! I can’t lie to them!”

“How about keeping quiet for now, and after dinner come out and I try to answer all your questions and together we try to come up with a way to explain to your parents that won’t make them think you are crazy?” That seemed reasonable. And it was not lying, well, if they asked about the dog… But he wasn’t a dog, so not really lying.

“Okay, just over dinner. And you meet me out back after? I don’t want you to come in with me. It’s really odd to see you with other people.”

“Sure thing, se you then.” The man began to steer towards the woods as they were getting closer to Stiles’ home.

“Wait! What is your name?” Stiles almost shouted, how could he have forgotten to get a name. Names were important.

The man looked over his shoulder, “Peter, my name is Peter.” He nodded and then transformed to a wolf and disappeared into the woods.

“Woah. That is seriously cool.” Stiles went into his house, his thought reeling at everything he had learned. Werewolves! Ghosts! Magic! He could not wait to tell Scott, this summer only got better and better!


	23. Chapter 23

When Peter got into the woods he collapsed on the ground. He was emotionally exhausted by needing to keep his emotions down for the interaction with the boy. He hadn’t wanted to risk having a breakdown to Stiles’ reaction so he had kept himself reigned in. Some emotions had still bled trough he was sure, but he could have cried in relief by Stiles’ reaction, and that had been disastrous. He didn’t want to come off as a mad man after all.

Wow, the kid had just, accepted him, werewolf and all. He didn’t seem to remember Peters visit to his bedroom, clearly he would had said something if he had. It was not like he censored himself after all. And fuck, Peter had told him he was magic. He had not planned to do that. How would that change the future? Future Stiles hadn’t really learned his magic before leaving Beacon Hills, sure he could use mountain ash like nobody’s business and a few other minor tricks, but that was all. He only got good when he found himself some good teachers that actually wanted him to learn stuff.

And man, when Stiles had found him, years after he had escaped Eichen House and fucked out of town he had nearly sparkled with power. It almost made him glad that he had listened and not bitten him during his disastrous time as alpha. But when he looked past the obvious strength in raw power Stiles had seemed haggard, haunted. Like he was dragging the bottom of the barrel trying to find help, and well, he did want help from Peter after all, so that was probably near the truth. Peter still was not sure how Stiles had managed to convince Scott, hell, he was still a bit surprised he had convinced him. But traveling without ever feeling the urge to settle down did get a bit tedious after a few years, but traveling was the only thing that allowed him to not drown in unwelcome memories. Always going to a new town, finding new stuff, it had been a bit like when he traveled after he got his degree, but with less joy. Damn, he should not think about this, he made himself depressed.  

“Peter…?” Finally! Stiles had come out, and Peter had totally dropped that ball with not being there. He rapidly ran out of the woods to the boy, transforming smoothly from wolf to man a few steps away. That ability was probably the only thing he genuinely liked about this existence. He had trained enough that he now could change in a breath, it was amazing.

“Woah, that will never get old,” the boy said breathlessly.

“Yes, I’m quite pleased myself, the ability to change fast and to keep the clothes is about the one good thing about all this. Well, that you can see and hear me is another I suppose.” Peter smiled down at him and then sat down, feeling that the conversation would go smoother if they were at the same level.

“So, I have like, a million questions, but we only got about two hours before I need to get inside again.” Stiles looked both eager and nervous at the same time. Like he had realized that maybe this was not only a good thing.

“Sure, I can’t promise I can answer everything, some things about my situation I still have no clue about and frustratingly enough I can’t manipulate books so I can’t really do my own research.” Peter was highly frustrated by this. He missed books. He had tried to read over Talia’s shoulder in the beginning but grown frustrated at the whole situation.

“Oh, that seems annoying… hey, want to go with me to the library next week? You can choose books and I can turn the pages for you.” Man, kid Stiles was nice, and way too eager to want to help.

“That sound lovely, but I doubt that the library have the books I need. But I suppose it would be nice to just read anything by now.”

“I usually go there anyways, my parents won’t let me stay home alone so when they both work I either goes with mom to the library or stay with Mrs. M. Well, or at Scotts when Melissa is home. Melissa is Scott’s mom, she is a nurse, so she works shifts like my dad.” Stiles rambled on, looking like he had forgotten all about his questions for a moment.

“Well, I haven’t been to the Beacon Hills library in years, and I didn’t want to risk bumping into people when I am like this so I have mostly avoided places with a lot of people since I got here.”

“Oh, that’s right. How does that work? Like, I can feel you but you are like, not there at the same time? How does not other people notice you if they walk in to you? That must be seriously freaky. Walking in to something invisible.” Stiles sounded almost excited about that.

“They don’t notice.” Peter scowled, that realization had been unpleasant. “Instead of them walking into me, I get moved. So I guess that if I walk into a bunch of people I will be bouncing all over the place. I haven’t really tried it after the first time I suddenly felt myself forcefully moved aside by another person.”

Stiles eyes grew big at that, “dude! That must be annoying. Do you have like any ghostly powers at all?”

“Well, I did manage to get my sister to hear me howl, but that kind of ended in a disaster.”

“You have a sister? Here? She must be worried sick about you if you have been like that for a month.”

Ah, how to explain time travel? What the hell, seize the day and all that crap. “I have two actually, but they believe that I am traveling around Europe right now. And they are kind of right, I am traveling around, but it is a different me. The young me, from this time.” Damn, could he sound more obtuse? How hard is it to say that he is from the future?

“There are two of you?! Wait, young you?! You are totally from the future! Time travel is real?! Awesome!” Stiles nearly bounced with excitement.

“Yes, I am from the future, but no, it is not awesome. I was sent here to fix things, and the only one I have managed to talk to is you. This is a disaster.” Peter almost growled, damn, he had to keep his temper, it was good that the boy was excited, and it is not this Stiles’ fault that he is stuck like this.

“Hey! Calm down, this is new to me, give me some slack,” Stiles growled back. “ I think it is amazing that you are not only a ghostly werewolf, you are also a time traveler. It’s like, a movie!” And he was quickly back to excited.

“You are taking all this surprisingly well, I really thought I would have to convince you somehow.” This was really not like the old Stiles at all, the kid was so, trusting. It was disturbing.

“Eh, you transformed from a wolf to a man in seconds, and no one else can see you, it’s not really hard to believe that you also are from the future. And why would you lie?”

Peter didn’t know how to answer that. Because there was a lot of reasons he would lie, but all of them were probably reasons he should not tell the kid about. He wanted him to help him after all, and therefore it was better to keep him innocent of Peters more, unscrupulous ways.

“So how is the future? What are you here to fix? From what year are you? Wait, do you know me in the future?!” And back to an onslaught of question it was.

“Yes, I do know you,” Peter started with the easiest question first, Stiles looked delighted, “but not well, and we hadn’t really spoken for a few years when you came to find me. I’m from 2022, so twenty years from now. I actually got sent back a few years too far, we wanted me to end up in the fall of 2004.”

“What happens in 2004? Wait, 2022?! Are there flying cars? Please tell me there are flying cars!”

Peter chuckled at that, “no, no flying cars. But self-driving electric cars have become quite the thing to have.” Peter had refused that development, he did not trust his safety to machines. And he liked the feeling of control of driving a car at high speeds.

“Aww man. That is not as cool,” the kid sounded unreasonable disappointed. “So, what do I do in the future? Wait, I came to find you? So, was it my idea to send you back?!”

“Yes, you are actually the one that sent me back. I told you that you have magic, remember?”

“So can I see you because I have magic or because I sent you here?” And wasn’t that the million dollar question.

“I’m not sure, I only know one other person in this time with magic, and, well, I’m not sure I trust him to help me. It’s quite possible that he would not want to let me change anything and instead try to get rid of me if he can see me.” Peter was actually sure that Deaton would try to banish him as soon as he found out, because Deaton was nothing if not for the balance, and Peter being here were probably upsetting the balance something fierce.

“Like send you back you mean?” Stiles worriedly bit his lower lip.

“No… More like kill me. I can’t go back. That was something you were quite insistent on before you sent me here. You were not really sure what would happen after I changed what I came to change, but you were absolutely certain that I could never go back.” Peter didn’t really want to go back for that matter, so that had not been a problem for him.

“But, what about your friends?”

“Sweet boy, I really do not have any friends left in the future… My life has been, unkind to me.” Peter hoped he would not ask too much about that. He was already way too honest with the kid, but he couldn’t help himself. Stiles was just so eager to listen, and he believed him unconditionally.

“Is it that you are here to change? But, why would I want to find you to send you back if we hadn’t talked in years? What happens to me in the future that I think time travel is a solution?”

“Ah, well, I’m not really sure. And I prefer not to speculate when you are going to bed after this. Maybe we could stay at safer topics and return to that tomorrow?” Peter was more concerned about spilling everything in this mindset than the possibility of giving Stiles nightmares, but that was not something he could tell the boy now, could he.

Stiles agreed a bit unwilling, but was soon up to a million safer questions. Mainly how it was to be a werewolf, and what he could do in his ghost form. He was genuinely horrified for Peter’s sake when he understood that Peter couldn’t really do anything. That he couldn’t eat, or drink or really feel much of anything in his human form. And even if he felt stuff as a wolf he still could not eat.

He then got Peter to showcase what happened when he tried to move stuff. Peter indulged him and managed to move a small pebble a few inched before it went back to its original position. It had been a bit easier with Stiles there, Peter filed that knowledge for later. Maybe that could be worked upon. Man, if he only could move a pen enough to write a letter. That would solve so many of his problems.

After that Stiles demanded to get a demonstration of the difference in him as a human and a wolf. Peter complied, grumpily for show but secretly delighted that Stiles still wanted to pet him in wolf form. Even if it was only to marvel at how real he felt and looked. It still felt amazing, but Peter forced himself to not behave like an overeager puppy. That kind of behavior could not be excused anymore now that the kid knew that he really was a grown man. He had his dignity after all.

Way to soon it was late and Stiles had to go inside again. They had not discussed what he would tell his parents. But that was okay, it could wait one more day. Peter was at least confident that they had ended at a positive note, and deemed the day an astounding success. He decided to go for a run, it was a nice night, he may as well enjoy it.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Compensating the two last super long chapters with a really short one. Originally this was going to be a short chapter from the sheriff’s perspective, but then I realized that I had sent him to work, so that had to be scrapped. So instead, more Peter.

As Peter ran through the woods he felt everything melt away for a while. He focused on the feeling of the ground under his paws, the fresh breeze through his fur. He took in all the different noises and smells and just let his wolf take over for a while. No pesky emotions, he just focused on running through the woods. He ran for hours, it was both nice and disturbing to be able to run without feeling any fatigue, he kind of missed the feeling of exerting himself. Now he couldn’t even get his pulse to heighten. But he didn’t want to think about that, so he ran.

Suddenly he felt slightly uneasy, like something was bothering him. It was reminiscent of a pack-mate in mild distress. He abruptly stopped. Whoa, that has to be from Stiles, he was the only person he had any connection to right now. Still very much in a wolf mindset he focused on the boy and willed himself to him. It would not do to let anything happen to him. He would probably not gone if he thought it through, after all, he could not really do much. But he was all instincts, and his first response when feeling distress of the closest to a pack-mate in years was to go there. So he went the fastest way he knew how.

Stiles was asleep when Peter showed up in his bedroom, still a wolf. He seemed restless and had began to smell of fear. Damn it, all the information of the day had been too much and he had nightmares. Peter whined quietly. This would not do. He carefully walked to the boy and buffed his head against Stiles’ shoulder, carefully to only nudge the boy.

“Whaa…” the kid mumbled unintelligibly and patted around with a hand until he found Peter. “Dog…?” Peter nuzzled his neck, hoping the kid would turn back to sleep, he already smelled better. Stiles sighed contentedly and put an arm around Peter and snuggled closer. Soon very much asleep.  Well, this was awkward, he couldn’t really move without waking him up again. He sat down beside the bed, trying to lay his head to rest without putting too much weight on Stiles and prepared to wait out the night. He hoped the kid would forgive him in the morning. Damn his stupid instincts. But he couldn’t really be angry at himself, he was too happy with the calmer feeling from the new bond. He was not sure when it happened, but the wage connection to Stiles had became a fully fledged pack-bond. It was better than anything he had had in years. He almost felt at peace.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I love my family, but my niece and nephew can sure be a handful. Why do children think everything will go their way if they scream long enough?

Stiles wakes up with his nose buried deep in fur and feeling safe and rested. It’s somewhat baffling because when he had gone to sleep his head had been filled with thoughts that had started with how amazing it was that werewolves and magic and freaking time travel was real but ended up with a whirlwind of different possibilities why Peter had been sent back in the first place. By Stiles of all people. He could only think of one reason to mess with time, and that would be if his parents died. Well, probably if Scott died too, their friendship had only grown stronger with the mess school was, and he really didn’t want to think of a world without him.

The other thing was that Peter had come from twenty years into the future, so that meant that whatever happened that made Stiles desperate enough to consider time travel was way into the future, so why was he sent back so far? What would happen in two years that was significant enough that he thought it would change whatever catastrophe that would make him so desperate to change history? Man, was it even possible to change history? And what if they made it worse? Well, Stiles had had a hard time getting to sleep after that.

But here he was, well rested and safe with a face plastered against something soft and warm…. Wait a minute, “Peter?” he croaked, sounding still half asleep. He was actually not really sure if he was awake at all.

The wolf huffed and then withdrew, he now saw that Peter was still mostly beside the bed, sitting like he had been dragged in by Stiles and tolerated it but not actually gotten onto the bed to be more comfortable. The wolf looked at him with intelligent eyes, with a clear question in them.

“What are you doing here? How did you even get here?” Stiles sat up looking curiously at Peter, he supposed that he should freak out at waking up to a werewolf, but he trusted him. They would obviously be some sort of friends in the future, and future him had trusted Peter enough to send him here so Stiles saw no reason to worry. Peter continued to just look at him, like he wanted something from Stiles that he really did not get right now.

“Hey, change to human, you don’t really make any sense right now.” Stiles tried to make out if his mom had gotten up yet, his dad was probably dead to the world right now if he had gotten home, but he didn’t want his mom to wonder who he was talking to. The house was quiet. As he scooted back to lean against the wall Peter changed back to his human self. The light was dim, only a bit of daylight getting through the blinds but Stiles thought Peter looked a bit different from yesterday. More centered somehow, still really odd with all the wrong coloring, but he looked better, it was hard to explain.

“Good morning, I’m sorry to intrude.” Peter’s voice was soft, but he said it with half a smirk like he was reminded of something funny. He sat down next to the bed, avoiding looking at Stiles.

“Wait a minute! I dreamt about you before!” Stiles stared accusingly at Peter, he had totally forgotten all about the odd hallucination he had had in the beginning of the summer. But that had to be Peter, he knew he had forgotten something!

Peter chuckled ruefully, “that was not really a dream. I do apologize about that, I did not really mean to end up in your bedroom with no means of getting out by myself.”

“How did you end up here? I thought you couldn’t walk through walls?!” Stiles had actually gotten disappointed in all the restrictions that were set on Peter, he could barely do anything.

 “Well, I seem to be able to get to you if I only focus hard enough. The first time I only tried to find you, thinking that you were the best possibility of being someone who could see me. I had not counted on actually getting so close. It was a bit of a chock for me as well.”

Huh, that explained why he had gone through the whole wolf charade he guessed. But still, way to hold back information.

“You didn’t tell me this yesterday, I asked about ghostly powers, this is a ghostly power!” Stiles accused him, he was not really angry, but still felt that Peter deserved to at least feel a bit of shame for holding back on him.

“It did not seem like the right time, and I didn’t plan to use that ever again. It’s a bit creepy even for me to end up in your bedroom like this…” Peter stopped talking, but it was like he wanted to say something more.

“So why did you?”

“You had a bad dream.”

“What?! How did you know about my dreams?!” Stiles vaguely remembered uneasy dreams about a distant future full of all kinds of bad possibilities. But they had stopped, probably when Peter showed up. As a wolf, huh.

“Ah, that is somewhat harder to explain. You see, werewolves usually live in packs. We need a pack to stay sane and not go feral. Well, you can work around it, but a pack is the best option. It keeps a werewolf human. And being in a pack creates bonds, connections between pack-mates...”

“And you have a bond with me? Future me?” Seemed like a reasonable explanation.

Peter startled at that, he stared at Stiles, several emotions flashing in his eyes too fast for Stiles to identify.

“Well no, not to future you… I have been without a real pack for nearly 18 years. Some of that time I spent in a coma, some of it insane and some at the outskirt of a pack. I had to learn to stay sane by myself the hard way, but I managed and the last few years were fine. I did not have a pack, but I managed without one as long as I kept moving.”  He took a deep breath.

“Somehow, coming back here, seeing my family again. It made me grab at the only connection I could feel, and that was a very weak connection to you. In the beginning it was only a feeling of where you were. But yesterday… Yesterday you accepted me as a werewolf, as somebody interesting, someone you wanted to get to know. I’m afraid that that was good enough to establish a stronger connection. You can probably not feel it, but for me, it’s like…” He faltered, trying to find the words to explain.

Stiles just waited, not really sure what to think. He was horrified at the fate of Peter. He had done extensive research on wolves when he had firsts seen Peter in wolf form, and lone wolves was not a common thing, and it was probably worse for werewolves if they had actual bonds to each other.

“I can feel your sympathy for me, I know it is invasive, and I will try to ward some of it away. But I… After I left you yesterday I went on a run, as a wolf. Overall, the day had been quite stressful for me, so I let the wolf take lead. I ran and just, focused on being a wolf for some time… Several hours later I felt uneasy, like something bad was happening. It was you, our weak connection was strong enough to let me know that you were in distress. I got here immediately, working mostly on instinct…

I woke you up enough to distract you from whatever you were dreaming, and then you kind of, latched on to me. I did not want to wake you again so I stayed. Well, I can’t really leave without someone opening the door for me, but anyway…” Peter looked a bit embarrassed at his explanation. Like he should have resisted the bond to Stiles or something.

“So you can feel what I feel?” Stiles though it through, it seemed like that would probably be annoying for Peter, since Stiles feeling could be all over the place, but maybe he was used to it? If he had grown up in a pack that was. But that was a long time ago, or well, for this Peter at least.  

“Only if I focus, or if you feel something strongly enough. Bad feelings are more common the bleed through, since they often signify a threat to the pack.” Stiles was relieved at that explanation, he did not want to drive Peter away too soon.

“Can I learn to feel you?” How cool would that be? He was part of a werewolf pack! Sure, with a ghost wolf, but anyway, that only made it cooler.

“Not as strongly, or, maybe you can since you are a spark, I confess that I have little experiences with sparks since you are so rare.”

Stiles squealed at that. “Awesome!”

Suddenly his mom knocked on his door before opening it.

“<Sweetie? Are you up?>”His mom asked in polish, looking in through the door. Peter sat completely still.

Stiles flailed, he had totally forgotten to listen out for his mom. “<Yeah, I’m awake.>” He looked at his mother, trying to make her believe that everything was normal. Nothing to see here.

“<Time for breakfast, I promised Melissa we would stop by and gather Scott before her shift, so rise and shine!> She went into the room, rising the blinds to let the sun in. She then ruffled Stiles’ hair and went down to the kitchen.

Peter looked at Stiles, he clearly did not know polish, so he waited for Stiles to tell him what was going on.

“Huh,  well, time for breakfast…” Stiles got up and went to his closet to get clothes for the day. He turned to Peter, “can you turn into a wolf until I can get you out of here? We still haven’t discussed how I should tell my parents, but right now I’m really hungry.” His stomach rumbled like it wanted to make the last point clear.

“Sure… or I could wait here until you leave?” Peter looked drained, Stiles thought it over, he could not see any harm in it.

“Okay, I leave the door open.” He quickly made his bed, thinking that Peter probably hadn’t laid down on one since he got here. Damn, where did he sleep? Stiles only got more questions the more he got to know.

“Thank you,” Peter said quietly, then shifted to a wolf and made himself comfortable on the bed. Clearly opting to ignore everything for a while.

Stiles said a quiet goodbye before going to the bathroom to pee and change. He then joined his mother in the kitchen. They had cereal, but it was Saturday so at least they got Lucky Charms. And his mom made a bit of an effort and had sliced some strawberries too. Overall, better than usual for her.

They talked about what to do with Scott, and Stiles managed to persuade her to take them to the comic store. He wanted some normalcy for a day, and comics were the best way to distract him from everything. And he knew that she secretly loved them too, or well, not so secret since it was his mom that got him hooked in the first place. He still had a million questions for Peter, but they could wait. Right now he had his mom, and soon they would pick up Scott and then he would continue his quest of finding the right comic for his friend to make him understand why Batman was the best superhero there was. Scott was sadly more of a Donald Duck type than anything. And he didn’t get superheroes at all, at least not yet. It was a work in progress.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it wasn't clear, things between < > is in polish, since this is from Stiles POV, and as he understands polish I felt it unnecessary to fumble my way through translations.


	26. Chapter 26

Peter reveled in the feeling of a soft bed under him, with the scent of pack surrounding him. He had spent the night more or less forced to breathe Stiles in, getting to know the boys smell intimately. He smelled different from his older self. Sure, there was the same underlying scent of his medicine, but his overall scent was of happiness and innocence. It was a fresh scent of apples with a hint of warm cinnamon. His older self had kept the cinnamon but instead of apples there had been a more bitter citrus tone to him. He had grown more suspicious and weary with age, probably not so surprising. Peter felt an intense urge to maintain the boy’s current scent. He wanted Stiles to not have to shatter his illusions of the world as a safe place, but he would probably fail with that. If nothing he would probably hasten the change. How could he not with his current inability to not tell way too much about the horrors of the future? He cursed himself for getting so attached, but there was nothing he could do now, nothing he wanted to do. Stiles had become pack, and he seemed to welcome it. Why, Peter had no clue, but he could for the life of him not break the bond. He was too selfish for that.

As Peter settled on the bed he lazily kept an ear out for Stiles and his mother. They talked enthusiastically with each other in a language Peter did not understand. He guessed it was polish, he was sure that was where the mother was from. It was oddly soothing to hear their voices but not needing to focus on what they were saying. He contemplated to fall asleep, but rejected the idea for not wanting to deal with his currents self’s issues. He very much doubted that he would get back his bearings before Laura went home again, and there was a few days left of her trip. Instead he just, laid there. Taking in the feeling of belonging. He would savor it as long as he could. It would probably end with Stiles talking to his parents, they would undoubtedly not be happy with their son having a bond to a forty-five year old werewolf from the future. Especially as they could not see him. Man, this was a mess.

Stiles return after about half an hour, Peter looked lazily at him, not bothering to move. Stiles sat down next to him, cradling his finger through his fur.

“Hey lazybones, I’m going to the comic store with mom and Scott, you can follow us out if you want, or stay here if you want to sleep or something. I don’t think you would enjoy the store, it’s Saturday so it’s probably full of kids and it can be a bit, crowded.” Stiles spoke quietly, probably trying to avoid alerting his mother. Peter only looked up at him for a moment, then put his head against his paws, trying to signal that he was going nowhere. He had an idea he wanted to try, but he needed to stay there for that.

“Okay, staying here it is. Well, you can always teleport to me if you change your mind, but give it a few hours, we will probably go to the park after lunch or something.” Stiles nodded to Peter, got his bag and left the room, he closed the door. Peter wasn’t sure if it was just habit, or if he didn’t want Peter walking in the rest of the house. Peter didn’t care. It was better anyway. 

Peter heard them leave a few moments later, the familiar sound of the jeep driving away from the house. He stayed on the bed for a while, but the feeling of pack was disappearing. He grew restless and changed to human. He wanted to try manipulating objects. He had a feeling it would work better with Stiles present, but he wanted to try alone first. And maybe using Stiles’ stuff would make a difference. He made his way to the cluttered desk, it was filled with papers and toys, with a bunch of started projects half finished. The most prominent was a model plane that Stiles seemed to have lost interest in half way through, it was now more or less buried under comics and lose papers.

Peter was relieved to find a pen lying free in all the mess. He tried to pick it up. He could not get his finger under it, he growled and tried to at least move it. As he pushed against it, it moved a few inches. He withdrew and the pen stayed. It did not go back to its original position. Peter glared at it. Sure, this was what he wanted, but it also made no sense. He had concluded earlier that he couldn’t change anything real. And now he had. He had moved a pen at least three inches, that was noticeable. Well, maybe not on the mess of Stiles’ desk, but still. Messes had not made any differences at the Hale residence.

Peter abandoned the desk for one of the shelves. They were more organized. He tried to pick up a action figure, it was at least easy to grab hold of. He managed to pick it up, but with a lot more resistance than him moving the pen. But when he tried to remove it completely he was stopped by the familiar force that would not budge. He gave up and settled for knocking it over. The figure stayed down, still at the same position but now laying down instead of standing up. A small change, but still a change. It was probably something Stiles would notice, but not anyone else. He looked around the room. It was generally pretty tidy, with the desk the only exception.  So, he should probably focus on the desk. Since he pretty much doubted that anyone would notice any changes there at all. As long as he didn’t try to clean it up at least.

He looked thoughtfully at the chair, it was a simple blue swivel chair. He nudged it carefully, it spun about a quarter of a turn. It did not change back. He decided to sit down and try to move the chair to a good position against the table. It worked. He almost wanted to raise his hands in success, a gesture he had seen Stiles do countless of times over the weeks, but refrained. He still had his dignity after all. He stopped to get a feeling of Stiles, reveling in having the choice in the first place. The only feeling the bond let though was of childish excitement and overall happiness. Good.

Peter looked down at the desk. He had work to do.


	27. Chapter 27

Stiles was at a splendid mood when he got home. He had done his best of forgetting that supernatural stuff was real, and just enjoyed hanging out with Scott and his mom. He knew he was supposed to not want to hang out with his parents, it was not cool or something, but his mom was awesome. Even Scott thought so, and his opinion was the only one that mattered outside of his family. He had even managed to talk about werewolves and magic, but both his mom and Scott had thought it was just his normal habit of getting interested in something and then obsess about it until he either knew everything worth knowing or lost interest. He had left out the time travel, it was a bit of a cross genre thing so he only hypostasized on how cool it would be if the very big dog he had befriended actually was a werewolf and wouldn’t it be amazing if magic was a thing that existed?

They had both humored him with their own theories, but it had been clear that neither really thought it was possible. But Stiles was happy, he had comics, his best friend and his mom and he got to talk as much as he wanted. They had gotten burgers for lunch, his mom swearing both boys to secrecy so his dad would not get jealous and then spent the afternoon in the park. Later both his dad and Melissa had met up with them to eat dinner together. So overall, a very good day.

When he opened the door to his room he was met with a surprising sight. He had expected to see Peter on the bed, sleeping or something as he had not teleported to Stiles during the day. But instead he was met with a very annoyed wolf that somehow also looked a bit proud of himself. He was not sure when he had gotten so good at reading Peter as a wolf, maybe it was a bond thing, or maybe he just made stuff up. He raised an eyebrow at him and got in and closed the door behind him.

“What’s up with you?” He looked around. Quickly he zeroed in on his desk, it did not look like he had left it. It was still messy, but now the model plane he had started on several weeks ago was on the forefront and finished.

“Whoa! How did you manage that? I though you couldn’t change stuff? Wait, have you gone through my stuff?” Stiles was not sure how to feel about this, when he left Peter in his room he had been sure that the man would not be able to do anything else than look at stuff, and nothing important was visible.

“I experimented a bit… I wanted to try to write a letter for my sisters, but that was not allowed. But finishing a model plane was fine apparently.” Peter sounded perturbed, he had sat down on the bed after changing to human.

“And I was mostly able to do anything at your desk. I tried to get a book to read, but no dice. Maybe it will work now that you are here. I think it has something to do with my bond to you at any rate.”

“Huh, why the desk and not a book? Very odd, maybe if I put a book on the desk? You have obviously managed to move papers around. Wait, could you read the comics?”

“I was able to move them around, but not browse through them. The rules have changed, but for the life of me I can’t understand why I can do some things and not others. I think is has something to do with the probability that you would do the thing I change. Like, you wouldn’t write something from me, so I can’t do it, and you would probably someday finish the plane so it was allowed for me.” Peter then looked a bit apologetic, “I apologize that I took your project from you, I was just so elevated when I could actually do something that it kind of got away from me.”

Stiles shrugged at that, “no worries, I was kind of bored with it anyway. Sometimes I just lose interest you know.” He sat down on his chair and spun around.

“So… Wanna try again?” He rifled through the mess and found a pen and an empty notepad and held them up to Peter.


	28. Chapter 28

_So… Wanna try again?_ Peter almost laughed out loud, but managed to keep it to an amused chuckle. Stiles looked and felt so genuinely happy and curious and Peter was amazed at how accepting the boy was. Peter had grown increasingly frustrated with his lack of progress during the day. It had started so well, with minor setbacks like the inability to browse through the comics, but then he had managed to put the model plane together and that had been a major confidence booster. It had taken quite a bit of effort, he had more or less forced the pieces to move but they had stayed put together. It was probably lucky that Stiles had managed to paint everything before he got bored, because Peter had had no success with that. But gluing and assembling had been fine. Hard, but fine.

So he had hoped that he would at least be able to pick up a pen after that. But no, not possible. He even tried to push a pen to the edge of the desk to catch it before it fell to the floor, but it refused to budge the last inch. It was infuriating. At last he had given up and changed to a wolf again, it was easier to deal with the disappointment in animal form. And now here was Stiles, full of happiness absolutely radiating confidence that it was possible. So what else could Peter do than indulge him?

“Sure, maybe you will make the difference,” he got up and walked to the boy. Cautiously he reached for the pen that Stiles held out for him. As he grabbed it he felt like a zap of electricity go through his hand.

“Ouch!” Stiles exclaimed as he shook his hand. Both of them had immediately let go of the pen and it fell to the floor.

“You okay?” Peter asked worried, the pain had not been bad for him, but if Stiles had felt the same it had probably been worse for the boy, human as he was.

“Yeah, but that was disappointing,” he glared at the pen and then scooped it up again, “try again?”

Peter smiled at the boy, “how about I try to touch you first, and if that is safe you can try to lay the pen in my hand? So it is clearly you who wants me to have the pen? And… Maybe concentrate on how much you want me to have it.”

Stiles nodded in agreement, “sure!” He looked intensely at the pen and Peter carefully put a hand on his shoulder. Nothing happened, they were still separated by the usual force, but it felt thinner somehow. He didn’t remove his hand and offered the other one palm up, ready to grab hold of the pen. Stiles very slowly put the pen in Peter’s hand, actually holding his hand when he gave the pen over. There was no electricity this time, and Peter actually felt the warmth of the boy. The situation felt way more intense than a simple pen had any right to cause but Peter didn’t want to break the tension. He carefully lowered his hand from Stiles’ and simultaneously closed his hand around the pen. It worked. He breathed out in relief.

Stiles actually gave up a whop of joy and raised both hands in success.

“It worked!” He grabbed the notepad and pushed it at Peter, “now write something!”

Peter took a step back, not wanting to try his luck with taking something from Stiles again. “How about you put that down on the desk and I give it a shot.” He kept a firm grip on the pen. It was amazing how easy it was to hold on to it, he didn’t feel like he had to fight anything at all. Stiles did as he was told and then left the chair for Peter. He gracefully sat down and looked down on the paper, his head totally empty on what he should write.

“Dude, just write your name or something,” Stiles urged him after a moment of nothing happening. Peter laughed a little, god this was absurd. He took a deep breath and wrote his name. _Peter Hale._ It worked. He stared at the blue ink. There, he had made a mark. An actual mark that could be seen by anyone. He beamed at Stiles. “It worked! It actually worked!” He grabbed the boy and gave him a big hug, completely ignoring that they really were not that close yet and it was probably not okay to just hug kids like this but damn it, the kid was pack and Peter had just written his name.

Stiles, the amazing kid he was hugged back. “I knew you could do it.” He stayed in the hug for a few moments, it almost felt like a normal hug, still no texture, but at least the warmth of a human came through. Peter let his arms fall and Stiles backed up.

“Okay, you write your letter, I focus on how much I want you to write your letter and try to find an envelope for you. Sounds good?” He looked like a boy on a mission and started to go through his drawers.

Peter nodded and changed to a fresh page. It was stupidly easy, almost a mockery of all the effort he had been forced to use for the simplest things without Stiles present. He started to write. It worked without any issues and soon his whole focus was on the paper and the words he put down. He wrote in Spanish, confident that Stiles would not understand more than a few words in that language and therefore not be able to learn things he was not ready for. After a few minutes an envelope was put beside him, and then Stiles grabbed one of his comics at sat down to read, leaving Peter to write in peace.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time, the letter to Talia.


	29. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting somewhere, I even think I know how I want to finish this story.

_Talia, I have no idea how to start this letter. What to say to you, this is all fucked up and I… I miss you so much. I have been here for about a month, and it has been agonizing seeing you and not been able to talk to you. The last thing you ever said to me was to save the children, and I failed at that. ~~I burned for it.~~ I am so sorry, I should have done more. But I hope I can change it, I hope I can undo all my past mistakes. Well, future mistakes right now I suppose. Sorry, I’m rambling. It’s just, I haven’t been able to do anything since I got here, so far only one person have been able to see me, and he is a young boy, too young to be burdened with my sins. I guess I will have no choice if this doesn’t work, but I have to have faith that you will believe me. You did hear me after all, even if it was only for a moment. _

_Well, I guess I just have to say it. Hi, I’m Peter, I am from the future where everyone have died or been broken past repair. I did both. Our family will go up in flames on the Wolf Moon of 2005, and I will do anything in my powers to stop it. Unfortunately, right now my abilities are bound to the kid who brought you this letter. And he is eight. I will sacrifice him for our family if I have to, but please, please don’t make me. Please take my words seriously even if you can’t see me. Even if the current me are still well and right now a bit pissed off at all of you for crashing his (my?) vacation. Dick move to send Laura to me by the way, what were you thinking? We hardly got along with all of you as a buffer, how was sending her to spend two weeks alone with me a good idea?_

_Anyway, I hope I will be able to write more to you, but just in case, I will try to get all the most important things down. I don’t know how much we can change, time travel is a bit, odd, after all. And I was not prepared to go back and find myself a ghost that no one could see. My plan was quite frankly to go back, kill the ones responsible and hope it would be enough. But as I cannot interact with hardly anything, that will not happen. So you have to do it. Or well, send current me to do it I suppose. The current Peter has not actually killed anyone yet, but he will for the pack._

_First, you need to talk to your children about how to introduce future partners to our secrets. Mainly, it’s not a good idea to get them bitten by an alpha without consent. And you probably need to talk to Peter about keeping his manipulating ways out of the family. It is all well and good with nudging others to do things to keep the pack safe, not so much with influencing the kids in a spit of boredom/self importance. And please, I know I am not the best person, and that I rarely got along with the pack. But I love you all, and I never wanted to hurt anyone of you. Not for real. I just, felt that my place in the pack was not really accepted by you. Even when needed. So I kept to myself and did things in secret and somewhere got lost._

_Anyway, keep an eye out for the children._

_Most importantly, you need to get rid of Katherine Argent, daughter to Gerard Argent. You should probably try to get rid of him too. Both of them have no regard for their code. I am not sure if Gerard was in on the fire, but he at least helped cover it up. There was no justice for us. And everyone in the house burned. Derek and Laura were out when the fire started, and Cora somehow managed to get away, but the rest of us, we were caught. She used some form of sleeping agent to knock out the humans, and used mountain ash to trap us inside. I don’t know how I survived, but somehow I did. You need to at least talk to Christopher Argent about his family if you can’t find the will to do what is necessary to keep us safe. He alone of the Argents keeps to the code, even if he sometimes is duped by his family._

_Second, don’t let Deucalion meet with Gerard to broker a peace treaty. Gerard will betray everyone, killing his fellow hunters and then frame Duke for it. Duke will be blinded and driven quite mad, killing his own pack in the aftermath. Later getting both Kali and Ennis to follow him. If you can’t find it in you to kill Kate, at least kill Gerard. He has poisoned the world of supernatural creatures for decades and do not care if the ones he hunt is guilty or not. He kills anyone he can get away with, his mission to eradicate all of us._

_And please, I don’t know why you took the knowledge of Malia from me, but please don’t let her keep living without knowledge of our world. Her mother is hunting her, she will find her in about a year and cause a car crash that kills Malia’s adoptive mother and sister. Malia will spend years trapped as a coyote before found and she does not deserve that. I was probably too young to be a father, but at least give my daughter the means to be safe. She needs to know what she is, and she needs real protection from her mother._

_Lastly, I need to tell you about the boy who delivered this letter. His name is Mieczyslaw Stilinski, but goes by Stiles. He is the one who in the future sends me back. Which is probably why he can see me. He is a powerful spark, but won’t access his powers before his late teens. Well, maybe that has changed, but so far he has not smelled of magic. His father is a deputy with the sheriff’s department of Beacon Hills, and will be sheriff in the future. Well, probably at last, I don’t know how changes will affect the world at large. His mother has a rare disease, frontotemporal dementia, that will kill her in a couple of years. It has not manifested yet, but it will. Please tell them to get treatment, or consider giving her the bite. At least tell them about our world. They can take it, and Stiles’ life would benefit from it._

_Please believe me, I really do not want to tell everything to the boy, but I will if I have to. But he deserves more. I committed countless of sins against him in the future, but he found me, and gave me the chance to go back and change things. And here he is just an innocent boy with too much imagination and trust for his own good. He has only known about me for a day, but already he has helped me enormously. So be nice to him._

_I love you all._

_Peter_

Peter looked up from the letter, he was not particularly happy with how it came out, but he felt like he couldn’t do any better. Maybe he should wait a day and try again, try being a bit more coherent. But he felt like if he tried again it would be worse. He got the most important parts down, and hopefully he would be able to write more to answer any questions.

“Finished?” Stiles asked and grabbed the papers from Peter when he nodded. He looked disappointed when he saw that is was written in Spanish. “Aww, I wanted to read it,” he pouted before taking the papers, folded them and put them into the envelope. 

“I know, that is why I wrote in Spanish. Some things are better kept between grownups.” Peter smiled at him, “but tell you what, I promise to tell you everything when you are a bit older. At least if I’m still around.”

“I will hold you to that.” Stiles seemed happy with the answer for now, “so… where should I take this?”

“Do you think you can get away tomorrow?”

“Well, I usually am allowed to go to Scott by myself, but I’m not sure about going to someone unknown. Can’t I get my mom to take me?”

Peter thought about it. If they only delivered the letter, it would probably be okay.

“How will you explain why you want to give a letter to the Hales?”

“Well, I tell the truth, I am doing a favor for a new friend. And there is no harm in a letter, so I’m sure it will be okay.” Stiles sounded so sure of himself. But maybe he had done crazier stuff before, Peter nodded and wrote Talia’s name on the envelope. Then he wrote the address on a different paper, so Stiles could give it to his mother.

“Do you think you can find your way there without me? I think I want to spend the night in the woods, I need to run for a bit. But I will come to you if you need me.”

“It will be fine, I talk to mom tomorrow at breakfast. How will we get you out of here? My dad will ask questions if I go out this late.”

“Just open the window, it is quite easy getting down from here.” Peter winked at him, probably making the boy want to try for himself years earlier than he would have otherwise.

Stiles laughed, and did as told, “see you tomorrow?” He sounded a bit unsure.

“Absolutely, I need to tell you how they react if nothing else. I will get here tomorrow night if I don’t feel like you need me earlier.” Peter climbed out, “good night, sleep well this night. And thank you.”

He jumped down and with long strides disappeared into the woods. Going towards his home. It was about time to see how everyone was doing, and he wanted to be there when Stiles delivered the letter.


	30. Chapter 30

Peter spent the night running, but this time he stayed close to his home. He had thought to try get into the house for the night, but lost courage when he approached the house. He was not ready to face his family. He would not have a choice when they got the letter, but for the night, he ran.

As morning came he took position at the mailbox. He didn’t know when the boy would show up, but he was ready to wait as long as it took. He kept his vigil as a wolf, keeping his focus on both the house and the bond to Stiles. The boy had slept peacefully through the night, and it was quite late when he finally woke up. Peter assumed that his parents let him sleep in since it was both summer and Sunday.

It took hours. Peter was contemplating to go to Stiles to see what took so long, but decided to be patient. It was partly because he dreaded Talia’s reaction. What if she didn’t believe the letter? If she thought that it was a prank? What if she would do something to Stiles? It was a serious breach of etiquette to tell someone about them without the alphas say so, and the consequences could be dire. But still, he was so young. And Talia, Talia was obnoxiously peaceful. But maybe she would try to take his memories. She had done it to Peter after all, and if she could do it to her brother then she most certainly could do it to a stranger no matter the age. Damn, he should have warned the kid. They should have talked to his parents first. This was stupid, he should…

Just as he started to really work himself into a frenzy of doubts and regrets, the jeep drove up the road, stopped beside the mailbox and Stiles hopped out to deliver the mail. He looked around and smiled brightly at Peter when he saw him lurking at the edge of the preserve. He did not wave, but a smug happy feeling came through the bond. Like, I told you I could do it feeling. He got back into the car and they turned and drove away. Stiles mom oddly looked like she giggled the whole way. Peter shook his head, he did not want to know what Stiles had told her to react like that.

It was after lunch by now, and he didn’t need to wait long for someone to come get the letter. It was Derek who got out, and he stared after the car, furrowing his brows at why someone had delivered something in person but not all the way to the house. Peter grinned at him and got closer, he would stick as close to the letter as he could. When Derek got the letter out he tried to get the scent, but he obviously did not recognize it. He shrugged and took the letter inside, Peter close after.

“MOM!” Derek shouted as soon as he got inside, “it was for you. I don’t know from who, but you have got a letter.”

Talia got down, followed by her husband. Violet and her family appeared to be out, maybe they had gone on a trip somewhere. Peter had not seen them leave, but he could only hear Cora’s heartbeat further in the house.

“Give it here,” Talia took the letter and ruffled Derek’s hair, “thank you.” Derek gave a token protest, but stayed near curious to what was inside. Joseph nudging Talia to open it, she looked stunned.

“This is, this is Peter’s handwriting. I am sure, why would some stranger have a letter from Peter?”

“Well open it and read, maybe he says why inside. It is a letter after all.”

Peter stayed dead still as Talia got the envelope open and took out the papers, he had not been this tense since he got here. It was crucial that Talia believed him, that she did something. As she read, all color was drained from her face. Both Derek and Joseph tried to read it too, but she did not let them. Instead she grabbed both of them in a bone crushing hug after she was done, letting the pages fall to the floor. Like she wanted to make sure they were there, safe.

“What did it say?!” Joseph’s voice shook, probably feeling how upset Talia was through the bond.

“It is, we need, Gods, this is bad. If the letter speak the truth, then…” Her voice broke, “where is Cora? I need my baby.”

Derek, visibly shaken by his mother ran into the house, presumably to fetch his sister. Joseph knelt to get the papers, carefully laying them out on the table as he read them. 

“We need to call Violet and Andrew, if there is even a possibility that this will come true… We have to do something.” He sounded calmer than Talia, but there was a steel core in his voice. “Come on, Lia. Nothing has happened yet. We can stop this.”

Talia took a deep breath, trying to get herself together again. As she calmed down both Derek and Cora came rushing in. She folded both of them into a hug, taking solace in their presence.

Peter was relieved, they believed him. At least enough to take his words as a possibility. That had to mean they could stop this. He could save them. He had not come here in vain. It was like a boulder was lifted from his shoulders. He was not the only one who knew what would happen anymore. And they had time, ages really to change the future. He laid down, keeping a close eye on his family. They would be okay, he was sure of it.  


	31. Chapter 31

The rest of the day blew by in a flurry of calls. Derek became responsible for keeping Cora distracted, both children quite confused and scared over what was happening. Neither of their parents told them much, just that they had got some bad news, but they were taking care of it. Peter saw that Derek resented to be treated as a child, but went with it for his sister’s sake.

As Talia called Violet, Joseph took to calling Laura. Peter opted to listen in on Talia’s call, since he figured he would get Laura’s information if he only went to sleep. From his sisters talk he got that Violet with husband and kids were visiting Andrew’s parents. They were not aware of the supernatural world, Andrew had decided not to tell them since his relationship with them was not the best. The sisters, after a lot of hashing over the details of the letter finally agreed that they should stay put. Nothing described in the letter would happen in the near future, and it was not worth alienating the Morris family now when they finally had started to warm up to them.

Peter was not sure what he thought about that. He agreed that they had time, but he just wanted them to do something. More than talk. It was quite frankly not like him to feel this inclined to just rush in and make something happen but things had progressed first agonizingly slow, to then in less than two days both getting Stiles on his side and making contact with his family. He just wanted to be ensured that they would actually neutralize the threat. And the more they talked the less aggressive Talia got. Like her first instinct after making sure her people were safe was to kill everyone that would harm them, but now she started to sound more like there was a possibility to solve this peacefully. Peter groaned. At least she told everyone, well, adults anyway. So if nothing else he knew he could count on himself to take matters in his own hands.

Joseph and Talia had a brief discussion on what to tell the kids before they started on dinner. Hopefully they had not overheard too much, as they had been sent outside for the duration. At least Cora was easy to distract with running through the forest, training on identifying different scents. And Derek was not sneaky enough to stay close to overhear information. Their parents agreed that they should not tell them about the possibility of their deaths. At least not yet, Talia didn’t want to tell them at all, but Joseph argued that if they could get confirmation they needed to be at least warned. And for the possibility that one of their children would get a future girlfriend or boyfriend bitten without consent, that was appalling. And it would evidently be because of Peter. Talia could not believe it. But it was his own words, and he had come back from the future.

“We need to talk to the Stilinski kid, I need to know what he knows. He is the only one that can tell me if the letter is real.” Talia spoke softly, looking seriously at her husband.

“We can’t just call him, he is eight. We need to tell his parents first. If he hasn’t already.”

“Would they believe him even if he did? He hardly has any proof. If not Peter has told him something that will happen soon that can be verified.”

“Like that his mother is sick? Hardly, from the letter is seems like Peter has tried to tell as little as possible to the kid. Quite admirable actually, he usually does not care for children.”

“Maybe he didn’t want to scare him away, if the kid is the only one who can see him… He has to be so lonely…” Talia’s voice broke a little.

“Hey,” Joseph dragged Talia in for a hug, “we will solve this. Tomorrow I take the day off, and I can take Cora to the library. I think Mrs. Stilinski works there, and if she is there I can try to set up a meeting with her and her husband. One of them has to be the one who drove the kid here with the letter so it should not be too hard.”

“And then we just, tell them?” Peter had never heard Talia sound so doubtful, but she had never been on for letting people in on their secret.

“And then we tell them. It is not fair to the boy otherwise. Think on how this must be for him, he has gotten to know a man that no one else can see, and if he has told anyone the chances that they would believe him is slim. We can at least make sure that his parents know that he is not crazy.”

“Yeah… And maybe we can talk to Peter through him later, at least get a better pinpoint on the timetable we are working with.”

They continued with the dinner. Talia setting the table as Joseph finished the food. Before they started eating Peter felt a spike of anxiety from his bond. He realized it had become quite late, and he had promised to meet Stiles. He looked longingly at his family, but decided that he knew enough. They believed him, and while they did not rush to take action they did take the threat seriously. He would be back later, but right now he needed to make sure the kid was alright. He closed his eyes and focused on his connection, feeling a bit giddy at getting to teleport without any anxiety of scaring the kid. When he opened his eyes he was in the garden of the Stilinski residence. Stiles sitting leaning against the usual tree, looking tense.

“Hello Stiles.”


	32. Chapter 32

_Hello Stiles._

Stiles flew up when he heard Peter, “how did it go, did they read it?! Did they believe you? What is happening?!”

He had tried to not think about Peter and the letter all day, without success. His mom had been equally curious, but agreed to wait until he was ready to talk about it. Instead she had told him gossip her coworkers had told her about the Hales when she had started working in the library. Apparently the whole family lived in one house, three siblings with their kids. Well, the youngest, Peter(!), was single, but he was also quite a bit younger than his sisters. She had tried to insinuate that he should try to befriend Cora, the youngest daughter of the oldest sibling, since he was so interested in the Hales to start with. He had tried to deflect, he couldn’t really tell her that he actually wanted to get to know Peter, because how cool would it be to know a person from two times in their lives simultaneously. And old Peter was super nice, so slightly younger Peter would have to be that too, right?

“Well, they read the letter, and I am quite certain they took it seriously. It seems like my sister plans to set up a meeting with your parents so they can talk to you.”

“My parents?!” Stiles squeaked. “I have to tell them first. What if they think I have lied to them? They will be so disappointed. I hate when mom is disappointed in me, she has this whole look. It is terrible.” He sank down on the ground again. Peter sat down in from of him.

“Hey, you haven’t lied, just not told them everything, right? And some things are really easier if they are told with the availability of proof. And my sister can give them that. Your mom is working tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah, and dad works an early shift, so I will spend the day with Scott. Melissa has the day off tomorrow… Hey, can I tell Scott?” He really wanted to tell Scott, and not just the half truth of the awesomeness that werewolves would be, but that they actually exist and that he knows one. A ghostly time travelling one at that.

Peter seemed to think it over, “well… Scott is not the best at keeping things from his mom, and really, it is kind of up to the alpha who gets to know about us. It’s bad enough that I told you without her knowledge, can you maybe wait until you talked to her?” Peter looked like he was not entirely happy that the alpha had so much say, but he also didn’t seem to want to tell Scott.

“But… I need to tell him something! And if I will meet your family he will wonder why. And I never keep things from him. We are best friends!” He didn’t say that Scott was more or less his only friend. It was not important, he didn’t need anyone else than Scott and his parents.

“You can wait a bit longer, you have known about werewolves for less than a weekend, it can hardly be the first times Scott has not known about something about you for a couple of days?”

“Yeah… But that only happens when we don’t see each other. I really want a cellphone, then we would be able to tell stuff immediately.” He had tried to get his parents to get him one for a year. A lot of his classmates had their own, but his parents thought that he was too young. And that he got distracted too easily as it was and didn’t need something more to play with.

“You will probably get one once you are old enough to stay home alone. Then they will want to be able to reach you whenever they want. Does Scott have a cell?”

“Yeah… His dad sent him one for Christmas. It was like, he remembered he had a son and though a cell would compensate for not being around for years. And he was really not a good dad to start with either.” Stiles scowled, he had really hated Scott’s dad, and had been relieved when he moved away quite early in his and Scott’s friendship.

“And Melissa let him keep it?” Peter looked inquiring at him.

“He paid for it, and Scott doesn’t have to answer if he calls. Scott doesn’t really use it much, but if I had one too…” He was actually a bit jealous about the phone. Not that he would want to trade his awesome dad for a phone, but still… Maybe he could get a phone now that he wouldn’t get a dog? It would surely be cheaper with a phone.

Peter chuckled, “you need to be patient. And maybe they will want you to have one after finding out that werewolves are real.”

“Really? Why? Will your family kidnap me? Why would I need a cellphone just because werewolves exists?!”   It was not like he would try running away just because he was magic now. But maybe others would need to be able to contact only him? But why would his parents want that to be possible. They didn’t even want Scott to have unlimited access to him.

“For some a phone is like a safety net, your parents haven’t had any reason to believe that you needed one, as they always know where you are anyway. But with the knowledge that there are more in this world than they thought, maybe they want to be able to reach you whenever. Just in case.” Huh, that seemed pretty reasonable. He would actually steal that and use on them when he tried to convince them next time.

“Huh, smart. I will try that on them next time,” he beamed at Peter, “soo… What did you tell them in the letter? Do they know you have come back from the future? What will they tell my parents?”

Peter smiled back, “I told them I was sent back yes, and that some things will happen if we don’t do something about it. And they will probably tell your parents that werewolves are real and that you have met a time traveling one. At least I think they will, because otherwise it will be quite odd why they would want to meet you.”

“If they meet without me, will you sit in on the meeting… And tell me what they said later?” He looked begging at Peter. He really didn’t want to be left out now. And he knew Peter had not told him everything, but still.

“I will tell you as much as I think you are capable of processing. Some things are quite frankly not for children. Let the grownups deal with that, okay?”

“Hmph, I can deal with more than you think. I am not a baby.” Stiles was nearly offended. He hated when old people treated him like a little kid. Sure he was a kid, but he was smart and if something was happening he wanted to know.

“I am sure, but I feel better when I know that you are safe. So let us keep you safe, I promise I will tell you as much as I can, but later. Now I really want to see how my family is doing. And if I go now I can maybe get into the house before they lock it down.”

“Alright, but you come talk to me tomorrow? I usually go to bed about nine on the summer, so I will be in my room by then. Could you just come by and tell me how everything is going?”

“Absolutely. See you tomorrow.” Peter looked like he was about to give him a hug, but then changed his mind. “Goodbye Stiles.” With a wave he got up and then vanished into the woods. Stiles felt a bit sad at the lack of contact. But what he really would have wanted was to cuddle with the wolf. And that was kind of odd now. He sighed, maybe he should get a real dog, because petting Peter as a wolf had been awesome. With a last look after the man Stiles went back inside. Debating with himself if he should just tell his parents or let Peters family handle everything.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably only a short update today. My dad's in town so I have socializing to do. But I dream this stuff now, so had to get it down before losing it.

Peter didn’t know what to do. There were threats against the pack, and he was stuck across the world in a small village in Albania. Hell, he didn’t even know where the closest airport was. And even if he did, should he go back? Or should he just go find Gerard and take out the biggest threat before he could do anything. He knew quite a bit about the bastard, one thing he had done in France was sniffing out as much as he could about the Argents. And everything he had learned about Gerard had made him want to rend the man to little pieces. Sure, it had all been rumors, and no one had had any concrete proof of him going after innocent people. But the general feeling had been that he hated everyone and everything supernatural and he didn’t always kill cleanly, liking to first torment his prey. Which apparently was allowed if the person hunted had killed someone first. Hunters, not a decent bone in any of them.

So when Peter had learned about the contents of the letter, from himself no less, he had not doubted it for a second. He shuddered. He was here from the future while still being himself. That had to break some sort of universal rule. What would happen if he met himself? Sure, apparently only a kid could see him, but well, wouldn’t he be able to see himself? They were the same person after all. Or, well, sort of. Would they merge into one person if they were to meet? Would he get the other Peters memories? Did he want the other Peters memories? He supposed he would like the knowledge, he always wanted to know. But, he had been stuck in their burning house, he had burned alive. Did he really want to know how that felt? No, not really. And losing everyone… Talia had spoken at length of how his supposed howl had sounded, and if that was how future Peter felt, he did not want anything to do with it.

Maybe he should just send Laura home, but stay at this side of the world himself. He could go back to France, find an Argent and get as much information about Gerard and Kate as possible from them. After all, if hunters felt like it was justified torture werewolves for information, they really shouldn’t be surprised if the roles were to be reversed. And to appease Talia he could even find someone with the same mindset as Gerard. It was a big family, and Gerard was hardly the only racist there. He hadn’t really tortured anybody, but he was not against to learn. And he knew torture was not a reliable source of information. People often said what they thought you wanted to hear, but it should work to get to where Gerard has his home base. And maybe the man has a house in Europe. It would not surprise him.

Yes, stay and gather information, and let his sisters’ deal with his future self. He would pester them about asking a lot the right questions of course, but not go there and risk getting too close. He liked being him, and he did not want the changes a life of suffering surely would give him. Hopefully they could find a way to well, send him back or something before he had to go home. If time travel was real, then surely there would be different time lines too. And if not, he had not asked for any of this. And if his future self was ready to go back in time he had to know that he would not make it out alive. And between him and future him, he was better. He had not been burned and worse and turned into some sacrificing idiot playing hero. And Peter would make sure that never happened. Even if that meant killing the whole Argent family. He had gone into criminal justice for a reason. He was sure he could get away with it.


	34. Chapter 34

“What do you mean you are not coming with Laura?” Talia’s voice suddenly broke through Peters thoughts. He had tried sleeping the night before but not been able to. Not getting tired in the first place and then having the day he had… He had not been able to force himself to sleep. And the more he tried the less relaxed he’d got. So he had settled for meditating to the soft murmurs of the house, just trying to focus on how everyone was alive and would stay that way. It was frustrating to not get an update on his current self, especially now that he wanted one. But he tried to let it go. He had noticed when his family started to wake up, but did not leave his place in the library. It was not worth getting too close, the divide between him and his family actually felt worse now that he had talked to Stiles.

“You can’t just run back to France and interrogate people! Gods, we don’t even know if Gerard has contact with the French branch of the family.” Talia listened impatiently. So, she was talking to current Peter, and not liking what she heard. Peter was torn, did he want his other self to stay away? He kind of got why he did, because if he’d got news that a future apparition of himself had come to visit he would probably not risk meeting him either. And well, they were the same person. He lost the next few sentences from Talia to his musings, she had lowered her voice and was harder to hear. He got up with a sigh, maybe it would be better to be closer, even if it was hard.

“You will not go off and kill Gerard! We have to have more information! Otherwise you will get every Argent hunter gunning for you. If you absolutely will not come home for now, can you at least try to stay out of trouble? And maybe use that brain of yours to find out about time travel. Alan was baffled at the possibility, but he knows a woman in Glasgow who apparently has a fascination with Doctor Who, an old TV series I think? And has tried to find some way to create a tardis, whatever that is. It has something to do with time and space if I got Alan right.”

Peter still couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation, he cursed his limitations.

“And you are sure you don’t want to come home? I would have thought that you would be ecstatic to find out as much from a future you as possible. It’s not even certain that anything would happen if you get close.” Peter snorted, of course Talia would think everything would be fine. For her everything was always fine. Well, until it really, really wasn’t. He scowled, but he was here to stop that. So everything would be fine. At least for her.

He was not so sure about himself. He had a growing suspicion that if he ever was at the same place as his current self that they would merge. He did after all get updates on everything new in the other Peters life as soon as he managed to sleep. And that probably meant that he would be the dominant Peter left. Because he had had no inclination that the connection goes both ways, he seemed to be the only one getting information. So if they merged, and he was the one driving after that, would that mean that he essentially would kill himself? Could he live with that? Did he want to live with that? He would almost prefer if he just, faded… After he was sure his family was safe at least. Because otherwise he would have to live with everything he had done.

He would have to live with the memory of killing Laura while living with her. The guilt he thought he had banished a long time ago came roaring back. And everything he had put Derek through, and he was just a kid now. And liked him. Peter stared blankly at nothing, completely missing everything that was going on around him. It was good that the other Peter was staying away. Maybe he could work something out. Make it so if they merged he could be like a conscience only making himself known when he was about to make a stupid mistake. Damn, he did not want to think about this.

He retreated back to the library. Trying to focus on the bond without actually teleporting to Stiles. The bond was safe, the kid was still sleeping, feeling content. Like everything was right in the world. He sat down on his chair. Everyone was alright for now. For now he could ignore what would happen in the future. What would happen to him. The most important thing right now was to keep his family safe. And he was on the right track for that. So everything was fine. He closed his eyes, he would not try to sleep, but just rest until Joseph went to the library. Just take a few moments getting his equilibrium back.


	35. Chapter 35

Peter woke up with feeling weirdly rejected. Of course he would be able to fall asleep when he didn’t want to. And of course he would only get impressions from the other Peter, not any real information. And the main impression was rage, determination and caution. And also a very distinct feeling that he was not wanted. It actually hurt a bit, but still, he could not find fault in his other self. He understood. It would be helpful to have some sort of communication with himself though, because they probably desired the same things. That the younger Peter would get the important information, without most of the horrible experiences. And maybe he could be content with that.

Peter tried to listen for the different members of the family, but the house was discernible quiet. He scowled and walked to the kitchen, looking for a clock. He must have slept through most of them leaving. Damn. Well, it was not like he had been able to come with Joseph anyway, but he hated that he had just fallen asleep without meaning to. He found out that he had slept through the morning and way past lunch. He focused on the bond but only got a vague feeling of distance and the usual happy innocence that he had started to associate with Stiles.

Lost for something better to do, Peter started to walk through the house. Going into rooms where the doors were open. Nothing really stood out until he came across Talia’s office. The door was usually closed when no one was home, but now it was open. As he looked into the room he found Derek, reading quietly while still keeping an ear out for any noises. Peter was delighted, he had forgotten that Derek could be quite mischievous before the whole debacle with Paige. There was a reason why they had gotten along quite well. Peter walked closer, it seemed like Derek was reading his letter, it was really not like Talia to let important papers lay about for anyone to find. He looked around and found that the bottom drawer that was usually locked was open. How Derek had managed that he had no idea, but he could not resist feeling proud.

Derek seemed to have some difficulties with the language, he knew Spanish, but Peter wasn’t sure if he still took classes or if he only kept it up with the odd conversation with random people who couldn’t speak English. But he muddled through, his brows getting lower and lower the further he read. When he got to the part about Malia the brows flew up in surprise.

“Mom, what did you do…?” He sounded so young, and quite devastated. He clearly could not understand how his mother, who he idolized, could take the memories of a child from his uncle. That part had obviously not been told to the children. Well, probably not much at all from the letter, but of some reason that seem to be what Derek reacted to most. Maybe because it painted his mother in a not so nice picture.

Derek quickly read the rest of the letter, but did not seem to care that much about the information about Stiles. That was not so surprising, Stiles had nothing to do with their family after all, not yet in any rate. When he was finished he gathered the papers and then put them back in the drawer, a distinct clicking noise made sure the lock was in place when he shut it. That did not give any information at all on how the boy had managed to get it open in the first place. He obviously had hidden talents.

Derek then found a book from the shelf, Peter could not see which, obviously getting something to explain the traces of his scent in the room. Peter quickly got out of the room before he’d be left in there. Curious on what Derek planned to do next he followed him up to his room. Barely managing to get inside before Derek closed the door behind him. He put down the book and got his phone, looking at it in deep concentration. After a few minutes he seemed to make up his mind. He made a call.

“Peter…?” Derek sounded so young when the call finally got through. “I need to tell you something.”

Peter sat down on the floor in stunned silence at this development. Damn, he had really not counted on Derek to be the one to deliver the news about Malia.

“I… I read the letter from, well, from you… And, I don’t know how much mom told you…?” He stopped talking, looking like he hoped that Talia had already fixed this mess. That she had told Peter herself. As he listened to whatever answer he got his shoulders slumped, he looked devastated.

“There were some more… I don’t know… Well, it seems like you maybe are a father…?” Even with Peters dulled sense of hearing the surprised laughter got through. It sounded incredulous.

“It said that mom had taken your memories, and that she is a coyote, and that her mother will try to kill her.” The words flew out of Derek’s mouth, like he wanted to get them out before he lost his nerve. He listened again.

“It didn’t say why, you actually asked why… But it implied that you were really young… So I don’t know, maybe mom thought it was best for everybody. But I don’t think its right to keep this from you. If you are a father you have the right to know.” The last bit was said with determination.

“...Do you want me to talk to mom for you? I will have to confess that I read the letter, but I’m old enough to know what is happening anyway. Just because Cora is still a kid doesn’t mean that they should treat me like one.” He was quiet for a long time, listening to Peter, who sounded quite upset.

“Her name is Malia, she’s adopted and has a sister. Her biological mother will crash their car in about a year and her mom and sister will die. And she will be trapped as a coyote for years. There was no more about her.” Derek sat down on the bed, all energy dried from his body.

“Will you promise to be careful? And please give mom a chance to explain. She has to have a reason. She would not do something like this if it was not absolutely necessary.” Derek didn’t sound like he really believed what he was saying, more like he really wanted to believe. Peter hoped he was right, he hoped that Talia had a better reason than that she thought that Peter was too irresponsible to be a father. He didn’t even know when she took the memories. Had she talked to their mother about it? Had Violet known?

“Bye Peter… Stay safe.” Derek put down the phone, laid down on the bed and sighed. He looked exhausted and overwhelmed. Peter felt for him. He had really missed this Derek, the Derek that cared for him, that had his back. Something had broken between them when Paige died, and Peter hadn’t really noticed at the time. He saw more clearly now. This time he would not let that happen. He only hoped that the other Peter would keep cool enough to listen to Talia, because this could break them. And he didn’t want that. He hoped Talia could explain, for if Peter felt betrayed enough it was a real possibility that he would not come back. And that would kill him in the long run. He needed his pack, faults and all. Peter leaned against the wall. Settling in to wait for something to happen.


	36. Chapter 36

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, if this is riddled with mistakes I'm sorry. It's been a super long day but I wanted to get this out before I go to bed.

Stiles was starting to feeling a bit anxious. His day had been fine until his mom got him from Scott’s, they had mostly played videogames because it had rained the whole day. So Stiles had been able to forget everything for the day. But his mom had been odd when she picked him up, she had looked at him like he was a puzzle so he figured the Hales had made contact. But she didn’t say anything. And then instead of going home they had gone to pick his dad up. They never did that. And gone to their favorite diner, on a Monday. His dad has been fairly befuddled too, so at least Stiles was not the only one out of the loop. Well, his dad was probably more clueless, since Stiles at least could guess what it was about. And still his mom had said nothing about why she behaved like she did. Only that they would go visit someone after dinner, and she was feeling lazy and didn’t want the hassle of actually cooking. But at least she didn’t seemed too freaked out.

And now he was sitting in the kitchen in a freaking mansion. Well, maybe just a really big house, but it was obscenely huge. Too large for the amount of people that were there now, but maybe everybody weren’t home. They had been greeted by four people when they came. And after a brief introduction his parents had disappeared with Mrs. and Mr. Hale. Talia and Joseph, they had told him to use their first names. And they had left him with Derek and Cora. Like they should just get on with each other just like that. Stiles scowled, he hated trying to talk to people he didn’t know when it was kind of important that they would like him. He had failed miserably at that in school, and if he hadn’t already have Scott he would probably been bullied for real. Well, some of the kids had tried, thinking them weak since Scott had his asthma, and Stiles, well, Stiles was just himself he guessed. But Stiles knew what was most important, and that was not the opinion of miserable kids who just needed someone to feel superior too. And he was not afraid to hit back if anyone became physical. And he went for places that hurt. After a broken nose and a whole lot of trouble from teachers and parents everybody had left Scott and Stiles alone. They were not worth the hassle.

But Stiles did not want to fight with Derek or Cora, they were Peters family so they were important. But he had no idea what to say. Should he just tell them about Peter? He had managed to not look too much at the man, well, wolf right now, when he had followed the grownups out of the room. He had not wanted to make them aware that he was there, this was weird enough as it was. It was really odd seeing Peter with other people around. And they had no clue. This was weird. He kind of wanted Peter to come back, but at the same time, he really wanted to know what the Hales told his parents. At least as much as Peter was willing to tell him.

He had now been here for at least ten minutes. And no one said anything. He had started to figure that he was not the only one with questionable social skills. Shouldn’t at least the Hale kids be comfortable with each other? Well, they were not, uncomfortable he supposed, but they didn’t interact either. He was actually a bit jealous of Cora, because she was playing with a Game Boy, totally ignoring the both of them. Derek was just weird. He looked at Stiles like he wanted to talk to him, but had no clue what to say. Stiles could relate to that feeling. Maybe he should just say something. Because his parents apparently was not coming back soon. And what was the worst that could happen anyway? Well, Derek could become a wolf and eat him maybe. But he wouldn’t, that seems like a thing that would be frowned upon.

“So… are you also a werewolf?” Stiles blurted out the question before thinking better, maybe that was rude.

“Was that rude? But how do you ask someone if they have the option to turn furry? Like, I apparently have magic but so far the only magical thing that I have done is seeing Peter, and that is not something I do actively. It just happens. But I will be super powerful in the future. Like, I sent Peter back! How cool is that? Peter did write that he was from the future? Right? Because I don’t understand Spanish, so I couldn’t read the letter. Or was that a secret? Peter has so many secrets! It’s aggravating. Like I know I’m just a kid, but give me some credit. My dad is a deputy, I know stuff.” HE took a breath, wow, he got going more than usual there. Derek looked stunned at him, his brows raised high.

“Dude, do you like, talk at all?”

“I talk. You just, didn’t stop.” Derek growled, Stiles had to give him that.

“Point, but feel free to break in whenever. Like, do you turn furry? Are you super fluffy? Peter was really cuddly as a wolf, well, I thought he was a dog. He is not so cuddly now, it’s weird you know… Knowing he is actually a man, it’s kind of embarrassing remembering some of the things I said to him.”

“I am a werewolf, Peter told us about the time travel stuff in the letter. He probably wrote in Spanish so you would not be able to read it. It’s a usual tactic in the family, and it’s a motivation to learn.”

“Ah, that is kind of smart. Me and mom talk to each other in Polish when we don’t want others to understand. Well, we usually talk Polish, because mom thinks it’s important that I keep it up, and there are not really many other people that understands. Dad knows a little, but he is not fluent.”

“Is Peter okay? Is he here?” Derek looked around, like he was trying to see anything odd.

“Yeah, he is fine I think…? A bit sad maybe, it’s hard to tell. He was really happy when he managed to write the letter though, apparently he had been here for a month or so and haven’t been able to do anything…  And he is not here. He doesn’t like, follow me around or anything.” Well, he had been following him around before he made contact, but Derek didn’t need to know that.

Derek looked kind of odd at him, “...how come you are not freaking out? A man shows up and said he’s a werewolf from the future and you just, what, believed him?”

“Well, duh, he was a wolf that turned into a man. He could hardly be anything else than a werewolf. And he looks really weird when he’s human. No bright colors to him at all. Or, his eyes a really blue, but other than that he’s sort of faded.”

“Huh, that must look really weird. Wait, he turned to a man from a wolf in front of you?!” Derek sounded scandalized at that.

“Yeah…? It was super awesome! One second he was this huge wolf, and the next, human!” Stiles didn’t see anything particularly shocking about that, well, except. Werewolf, duh.

“Wasn’t he like… naked?” Derek looked super uncomfortable as he asked that.

“Ah, no… His clothes kind of appeared with him. Right, he said that was like his only power. Well that and he can kind of travel to me wherever I am.” Right, clothes was not a usual thing to change. That had to be embarrassing at family outings. But maybe they didn’t care?

“Okay… Sounds like Peter to manage to get his clothes to do as he wishes. But he has to hate not being able to talk to anybody but you. He loves to talk. Well, at least the normal Peter does.”

Stiles kind of laughed in surprise at that. Sure, Peter talked a lot, but he sometimes just… Stopped, lost in thought. He tried to explain that to Derek, and now, ice truly broken they bonded over trying to figure out how Peter had changed. Stiles got the picture that young Peter was a bit of an ass, but didn’t want to say that to Derek in case he would be offended. Derek seemed to really like Peter. Stiles was pleased with that. Peter really missed his family, so it was good they were on his side.

Derek didn’t really say much about what he knew about the letter, he said his parents hadn’t told him much, but he looked a bit shifty when he said that, so Stiles figured he knew more. Maybe he could get him to spill the beans when Cora wasn’t around, but that could wait.

They continued talking, Derek was strangely tolerant of Stiles’ habit of going off topic, it was nice. Stiles tried to stick to topics that was not too immature, so they talked a lot about how werewolves worked, and Stiles went on to speculate about his magic. It was fun talking to somebody who was just as clueless as he was about magic, but who seemed to believe him when he said he had it. Even if he wasn’t sure how much he believed it himself. Like, Peter said he would be powerful when he grew up, and he believed that. But maybe something would happen that would give him magic? And that maybe wouldn’t happen now. But he could see Peter, so he probably had magic.

Suddenly Derek became quiet and look towards the door, obviously hearing something Stiles couldn’t. Stiles looked up and saw his mom come in, she looked stricken, like she had cried and pulled herself together. His dad followed her closely, looking grim.

“<Mom? Are you alright?>” He quietly asked in Polish, letting their secret language be a kind of security blanket. This was really not the reaction he had thought would happen.

“<Honey, it is time to go home.>” She gathered him up in a big hug, holding him close like she never wanted to let him go. Stiles started to get a bit scared. She didn’t answer the question, this was really bad. His dad put his hand of his shoulder, squeezing lightly.

“Say goodbye to the Hales, we will talk more when we get home. Okay son?”

Stiles nodded and untangled himself from his mom, but kept hold of one of her hands. He quietly said goodbye to Derek, nodded at Cora who barely gave notice and looked kind of accusingly at Talia and Joseph. They did not deserve him to be polite when they made his mom look like this. Neither of them looked happy, but they both seemed sad, not angry. Peter was nowhere to be seen. He hoped he would come to his room later. He followed his parents out to the car. It was a quiet ride home.


	37. Chapter 37

Peter stared at the closed door to the office. He had stayed inside when the others left, a bit overwhelmed at what had happened. The meeting had started amicably, Claudia had seemed mostly curious, and Noah resigned. Both seemed sure that the meeting would be about Stiles. When they were assured that their boy had not done anything wrong they had both relaxed.

They had taken the news of werewolves surprisingly well. Sure, they had not believed it for a second before getting proof, but they had not freaked out, not even when Talia showed her beta shift. Claudia had actually seemed exited at the revelation. Noah had been more reserved, but he had tried keeping an open mind. Since Beacon Hills was a generally quiet town where they mostly had to settle the occasional brawl Noah did not have any trouble believing that the pack was peaceful. And as long as they didn’t break the law he would have no problem with them.

They had both been curious why they were told, and what Stiles had to do with anything. Noah had actually drawn the right conclusion before Talia had got the chance to tell him.

_“The freaking dog! Do you mean that our kid went and befriended a werewolf?! Fuck, I don’t know if I’m okay with that. Why the hell would someone try to get close to a kid by posing as a dog? Was it somebody you know? If it is I want to talk to them right now!” Noah had gotten more and more angry, clearly scared for Stiles._

_“Calm down, nothing will happen to Stiles.” Talia tried to sound calming. “I didn’t know Peter used his wolf form to get to know your boy, but he probably did it for a good reason.”_

_“So you do know him?! Why isn’t he here?!”_

_“Well, it’s a bit complicated. You see… Stiles is magic.”_

Talia had continued by explaining about the time travel stuff. And how the only reason they knew anything was because Peter had wrote them a letter, a letter that Stiles had delivered. Claudia had made a soft sound at that, and then wondered why Stiles hadn’t just talked to them. Neither Joseph nor Talia could answer that, but they theorized that he maybe hadn’t worked up the nerve yet. From the letter it seemed like everything had happen quite fast after Peter had showed himself as a human.

Then Noah had demanded to see the letter. Because if Peter had used his kid to get them the information they sure as hell deserved to read it too. Here both Talia and Joseph had hesitated. They tried to explain that the letter was full of chocking revelations, and some of it was really bad. Were they sure they wanted to know everything on one night? Maybe they should let the whole werewolves are real business sink in first. Neither Stilinski would have that. So Talia had taken a deep breath and then explained that it seemed like Claudia would get sick. Really sick, in an incurable disease that would kill her. In the stunned silence Joseph had handed the letter over, it was not the original, but a translation. Joseph had been prepared for this and was not sure the Stilinskis spoke Spanish, so he had translated it just in case. Noah was finished first, Claudia seemed to have problems focusing.

_“How sure are you that this is real? That time travel actually works and what Peters says happen will happen?” Noah sounded like he was reaching for anything that would make the letter a lie, to make it not true._

_“He knows about Malia, and I took everything about her from him. I don’t know how he found out, but I obviously have not done enough to keep her safe. I have kept an eye on her, but she has not shown any signs that she is a shifter. I really believed that she would be able to live a normal life.” Talia sounded regretful, but did not go into more details._

_Noah had looked like he wanted to ask more question about that, but then changed his mind._

_“What does he mean with giving her the bite? Can you save my wife?”_

_“The bite is… it is not a sure thing. As an alpha I can turn humans into werewolves, but taking the bite, there is a significant risk of dying. Not everyone is strong enough to survive… I have only turned my sister’s husband. And he was twenty-three and in peak condition.” Talia took a deep breath and then looked Claudia in her eyes. “I can’t guarantee that you will survive the bite. I need you to think it over. It’s best to do it near the full moon, but the next is so close that I won’t do it then. So you have at least a month to think it through. To get to know us before you decide anything.”_

Claudia had barely nodded, she had stared with blank eyes and then suddenly thrown herself in her husband’s arms, breaking down in tears. Noah had held her and tried to comfort her, ignoring the Hales completely and just focused on Claudia. The meeting had ended when Claudia calmed down. Talia had suggested that they should meet again in a couple of days. And that they would answer all their questions if they could. Noah had distractedly agreed, his sole focus had been on getting his wife out of the room, probably to find Stiles and take his family home. Talia and Joseph had followed, and Peter was not sure how he felt.

He felt an increasing amount of anxiety from the bond. Stiles had begun to feel scared. Peter wanted to go to him, but decided to give him time to get home and spend time with his family first. It was late, but Peter was sure the Stilinskis would stay together even if it was past Stiles’ bedtime. And they did not need an audience for whatever talk they would have when they got home. So Peter would give them a few hours, and then get there to try and ease Stiles’ sleep. This had been a long day. But at least now they knew, and Stiles would not need to hide anything from his parents again.


	38. Chapter 38

His mom calmed down during the ride home. Stiles did not, he did the opposite. He could not figure out what they could have been told that had made his mom cry. Sure, his mom was a crier, but the look on her face had not spoken of angry tears, or even freaked out tears. That had been devastated tears. Her face had reminded him of how she had looked when his babka had died when he was five. And that thought freaked him out. Because Stiles did not want to think about what that could mean. So his bottom lip was trembling when they got to the house, and he tried really hard to keep calm, but one look at him and his mom just dropped everything and drew him into a hug as his dad let them inside the house.

Soon Stiles found himself on the couch cuddling with his mom as his dad made hot chocolate for them to share. The good stuff too, he even used the mini marshmallows that were only used for emergency situations. Well, Stiles guessed this was kind of an emergency. With the steady presence of his mom and the safe sounds of his dad in the kitchen Stiles was able to get himself together enough to talk when his dad joined them from the kitchen, with three steaming mugs.

The chocolate helped too, it was another piece of normalcy, a Stilinski tradition to ease difficulties with sweets. For a moment they all sat in silence, just letting the chocolate do its thing. Stiles didn’t want to look at his parents, afraid of what he would see in their faces. They hadn’t seemed angry at him, but he clearly was the reason they had been there in the first place… He had delivered that letter, he had made it possible for Peter to write it in the first place. But Peter hadn’t said anything about there being information that would hurt his family. Stiles felt almost betrayed at that, why hadn’t Peter warned him?

“So… Werewolves are a thing.” It was his dad who finally broke the silence.

“Yeah… I only found out Friday, and I didn’t know how to tell you! I wanted to, but I had no proof, and Peter said nobody but me could see him, and Mrs. M could not see him even if he was right there! I’m sorry!” Stiles looked pleadingly at his dad, begging for forgiveness for whatever news they had gotten this day.

“Oh honey,” his mom drew him closer, “we are not angry at you. You did nothing wrong. And you did tell me all about werewolves on Saturday, remember? You talked a lot about magic and mystic creatures, and sure, you didn’t say it was all real, but you didn’t say it wasn’t either. And I guess you are one of the reasons Peter asked Talia to talk to us, right?”

“Mmm… He though they would be better at telling you so you would believe them. But he didn’t say they would make you upset! What did they say? Peter wouldn’t tell me anything about what he wrote in the letter. Only that I should wait until I got older.”

“I think he was right,” his dad started, “we got some shocking news, that we need to think about a bit before we tell you.” Stiles scowled at him, he hated when they kept secrets. It was bad enough when he wasn’t sure they did it, but now they told him they kept stuff from him.

“Now… How much have you actually been seeing Peter? Is he here now? He wrote that you had helped him, exactly what did he mean by that?” His dad didn’t sound angry, mostly worried.

So Stiles told them everything. How Peter looked kind of not real as a human, and felt weird as well. But as a wolf he felt completely real. He told them everything that Peter had told him, how he was from the future and that it had been Stiles that sent him back. Here he had first gushed about his magic, because, magic! And then he had made himself upset by speculating on why he had sent Peter back. Because Peter hadn’t said anything real about his reasons why he was here. Only that he needed to fix some things. And that he couldn’t do it without help.

His parents let him talk, they only nudged him when he got too off topic, but otherwise they were quiet. When he finished by telling them about how he had helped Peter write the letter he was exhausted. He was also deeply relieved. Now his parents knew everything and they could help Peter fix whatever needing fixing. And somehow the bad thing would go away. His parents decided to let him go to sleep when he was done. Holding their questions for the next day.

When he finally got to bed he thought that he would not be able to fall asleep, but he went out like a light as soon as he laid down. He slept restlessly, his dreams riddled with dark possibilities, until a warm pressure against his side nudged him awake. With a sigh he cuddled up to the wolf, feeling safe and fell back to sleep. For the rest of the night he dreamt about running through the woods with a wolf, happy and safe.


	39. Chapter 39

Peter actually fell asleep, soothed by Stiles steady breath as the boy snuggled close. He didn’t dream about his current self, instead he found himself running through the woods, with a steady presence of pack around him. He woke up feeling better than he had in days.

He laid still, listening to Stiles breathing. He contemplated waking the boy up, but figured that he deserved to sleep as long as possible. He could hear faint noised from downstairs, it sounded like somebody was making breakfast. There was no talking, so it was probably only one person. He tried listening for heartbeats, but he could only distinguish Stiles’ heart. It beat steady and sure beside him and made it impossible for him to find the others inside the house. He felt a bit disturbed by this. He had not had this bad control of his powers in years, but he figured that it probably was due to his odd situation. And he didn’t really need to be able to pinpoint where anybody but Stiles were. It was not as he could do anything without the boy anyway.

He wondered a bit on how an outsider would see Stiles where he slept hugging Peter. Like, would it look like he hugged air? Would there be an illusion of Stiles sleeping alone? Or would they actually see that something was there? Maybe Stiles touching him would make him visible to others? He pondered over that a few minutes, but decided that he didn’t dare hope for that. He sure as hell would try it out, but he would not hope for success. He had been able to make contact with his family, he should be content with that.

He felt Stiles starting to move beside him, the kid burrowed his nose deep into Peters fur mumbling, “you were late.” He sounded sleepy, but also kind of accusatory. Peter let out a quiet whine, and nuzzled apologetically at his neck. Trying to push the feeling of his regret through the bond. He had wanted to be there, but he still felt like it was the right thing to do to leave the family alone. But he was sorry that he had not been able to time his arrival so he had been there before the kid fell asleep.

“It’s okay. But your sister said something to my mother that upset her. And I don’t think it’s fair that everybody knows what it is besides me.” Stiles sounded wide awake now, and he untangled himself from Peter and sat up. He poked the wolf in the side.

“Hey, change to human. You promised to tell me all about the meeting.”

Peter jumped down from the bed and shifted, obeying the boy without giving it a thought. He cringed when he realized what he had done, but managed to keep it from his face. He hoped at least. Damn, when had he started to treat Stiles as his alpha? He was only a kid! This could be a disaster.

“I will not tell you what made your parents so upset, I think it is their news to share. And they would not thank me if I went against their wishes in this.” He would be quiet for now. Depending on how that situation developed he would reassess. But for now he would let Stiles’ parents decide how much he could handle.

“But…”

“It is not something immediately urgent. Give them some time to process and I am sure they will tell you. They were told a lot yesterday and quite frankly I am impressed on how good they handled it.” He was especially delighted at how well the future sheriff had taken the news of werewolves. Even if the fire for some god forsaken reason happened again, at least there would be somebody who would take the investigation seriously. Stilinski had always been a good cop, he would not look the other way.

“Fine!” Stiles grumbled, clearly not happy but accepting it anyway. “But at least tell me how they took the news of werewolves. They seemed fine with it yesterday, but we didn’t really talk about it much. Well, they didn’t talk, I told them all about you.”

Peter chuckled, “they took it fine. At first they didn’t really believe it, but after Talia showed her beta shift they kind of had no choice. But they didn’t freak out, and didn’t get scared either. You can be proud.”

“Of course they wouldn’t be scared! My dad is a cop! And my mom is awesome.” He seemed offended at the implication that his parents would scare so easily. Because to Stiles werewolves were not scary at all, but then he was too young to have seen the good horror movies, and kids weren’t told the real fairy tales anymore. So to Stiles werewolves were like Peter, and Peter had been really careful about seeming harmless. Suppressing his predator side whenever he was near the boy.

“It’s not uncommon for people to be afraid of what they don’t understand. And usually grownups don’t like getting their worldview changed in such a major way.” Peter tried to explain.

“But your parents took it well, and your father figured out your role in this before Talia got a change to explain. I don’t understand how you were able to keep the world of weres from him as long as you did where I came from. But maybe that says more about you than him.”

“I lied to my dad?!” Stiles squeaked. Oops, Peter had not meant to say that. Damn, how would he get out of this without explaining that the Sheriff had been overworked and Stiles had been adamant not to put him in any danger? While also avoiding the whole issue that his mother had not been around. Damn, damn damn!

But before Peter had the chance to say anything, there was a brief knock in the door before it opened and Noah looked in.

“You awake kid? It’s time for breakfast.” He looked a bit surprised at finding Stiles awake and sitting up.

“Dad!” Stiles exclaimed, looking kind of guilty, probably from the thought that he would grow up lying to his father.

“Son, are you alright?” Noah looked suspiciously around the room, but didn’t seem to see anything weird. “Are Peter here now? If he is we really need to have a conversation about where it is appropriate for you two to talk.”

“Yeah, he is sitting in the chair.”

“Okay kid, you go get ready for breakfast, and Peter” Noah looked straight at him, he did not manage to meet his eyes, but it was a near thing, “I want you to go down to the living room. We will find some way of communicating, because if I don’t get reassured about what your intentions are with my boy I will find a way to banish you from ever talking to him again.” He looked determined before giving a small smile to Stiles.

“See you downstairs kiddo, hurry up. I made pancakes.” He turned and left the room, leaving the door open.

“Well, you heard the man. Try suggesting pen and paper, or maybe it can work with a computer if you have one. But I think it is best if we do as he says, no use making him more irritated at me than he already is.” Peter smiled at the boy and got up, leaving the kid gawking after him as he went downstairs. He found the living room without any trouble and made himself comfortable in one of the armchairs. He prepared to wait, actually quite relieved with the breather. He really needed to be better at not telling Stiles things. It was getting embarrassing.

 


	40. Chapter 40

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written 40 chapters! Holy cow, I did not expect this to get so big. Thank you for your comments and kudos, they keep me going. Well, I would probably write anyway, but they make me want to keep posting.

Soon the whole Stilinski family was in the kitchen eating breakfast. Peter opted to stay human, it was easier to ignore everything with his senses dulled. The mundane noises from the kitchen were relaxing. It felt good being in a home, and not hiding. He didn’t actually feel welcome, the threat in Noah’s voice had been real, but he didn’t feel like he was intruding either. And he felt no negativity through the bond. Stiles was a bit nervous, but he was also excited.

Peter idly wondered if it would work to write when other people were around, he hoped that it would. Because telling Stiles what he should tell his parents would get old fast. And he also guessed that especially Noah would have a lot of questions they didn’t want Stiles to know about. Especially about Claudia. Peter didn’t know how much to tell them, he didn’t really know the history of Claudia’s illness. It wasn’t like he and Stiles had been friends. Peter didn’t have friends, it was not worth the heartache. None of his supposed friends had been there for him when he was stuck in his body. So even if he had always liked Stiles, the kid had been sarcastic and sassy and stupidly brave, he had never tried to talk about real stuff. He didn’t tell Stiles about how it felt being abandoned by everyone and Stiles didn’t talk about his mother.

Peter only knew that Claudia had died when Stiles was ten and that the Sheriff had not taken it well. Peter couldn’t really blame the man for mourning Claudia, but he felt like he had dropped the ball regarding Stiles. It was more apparent now when he had gotten to know Stiles as a kid. A sweet trusting kid that though the world of his parents. He had still thought the world of the Sheriff as a teen, but he hadn’t trusted him with anything important. And Peter was sure the Sheriff had been an alcoholic. A functional alcoholic, because god forbid he did anything to mess up his job, but an alcoholic none the less. And Stiles had suffered for it. Well, Peter supposed Stiles would grow up sassy and sarcastic whatever happened, but the suspicious nature had surely been exaggerated by the Sheriff’s neglect. The kid deserved better.

“Is he here?” Peter looked up, ha had missed that the family had finished breakfast, and was now filing into the room. Stiles with a bunch of papers and pens, and his mother with a clunky looking laptop. Ah, old technology. Maybe he should tell them to invest in Apple, even he had been surprised at how big they had become when he got out of the coma.

“Yeah,” Stiles nodded vigorously in Peter’s direction, and then put down his burden in front of him.

“This is really weird.” Claudia got down on the couch and started up the computer. “It’s like you have an imaginary friend for real this time. Do you remember when you used to tell stories about Samuel the invisible kid who was a bit clumsy and really liked cookies?” She giggled, it apparently was a happy memory.

“Mom!” Stiles whined, “that was ages ago.” He looked pleadingly at Peter, “don’t listen to her, I didn’t really believe I had an invisible friend, but he was a good excuse when I wanted extra cookies.”

Peter chuckled, “don’t worry, my nephew Oliver used to tell stories about fairies he met in the woods. At first we were worried we had been visited by actual fairies, but he just really liked the thought of them. He grew out of it too. You at least got cookies out of it.” He winked at Stiles.

“Fairies are real?” Stiles gawked at him. His parents listened on the one sided conversation and looked a bit uncomfortable. Like it was getting a bit too real.

“They were at least, I haven’t heard of any fairies showing themselves for the last 100 years or so, there is probably too much iron in the world now. But I don’t know if they all died or if they just retreated to less populated areas.”

“Aww, that is sad…” he abruptly seemed to remember that his parents were there. “Soo… how should we do this? Peter is here, and you are here, but you don’t see him at all, right?” He looked imploringly at his father.

“Well son, quite frankly I would like to have a private conversation with Peter, since a lot of the things he wrote about in the letter were not topics I am comfortable discussion with you.” Claudia nodded, but Stiles was not happy with that.

“But dad, he can’t do anything without me here! Well, he managed to put together my airplane by himself, but he can’t even lift a pen without me!”

“So we will try figure out how close you need to be, because the best option would be if we can sit in the kitchen with you playing in here. No need for you to be bored after all.”

“Fine,” Stiles grumbled, “but you are saving every piece of paper! I want to read everything as soon as I am old enough!”

“Sure thing kid, it can be your graduation present.” He sat down next to Stiles, then looked at the chair where Peter sat. “How about you try to write something, we try with pen and paper first, as you have already been able to do that.”

Peter looked down on the pen, he could do this. “Stiles, I need you to really believe this will work, okay?” Stiles nodded, and Peter picked up the pen. It worked! Stiles gave up a big whoop, giddy with success! Claudia looked at him with questions in her eyes.

“What happened?” She asked.

“He could take the pen! By himself! Don’t you see that?”

“No, I didn’t see anything.” She looked back at the gathered supplies, gave up a small gasp. “But it seems like a pen is missing, so something happened alright.” Noah furrowed his brows, he hadn’t looked away at all. He then deliberately closed his eyes and looked again, then nodded.

“So, we can’t see things change as they happen, but if we focus on something else we can see the aftermath.”

“Try to write something.” Claudia urged him, for the first time actually acknowledged that he was there. Peter looked at Stiles who nodded encouragingly and then sat the pen down and wrote,

_Hello._

He stared at the paper, astonished that it worked so easily even with people around. Stiles cheered, and both his parents looked away and back. They then smiled brightly.

“Hello Peter, I’m glad that worked.” Claudia looked vulnerable for a second before smiling again.

“Honey, how about you go out in the kitchen for a minute, and then we try again?”

Stiles looked at Peter, clearly wanting to stay.

“Just indulge us for now, I will try to remember something that I can tell you. Not everything in the future is gloom and doom.” Well, not for Stiles at least, even if Peter didn’t know a lot of the good stuff he had picked up a few tidbits over the years.

Stiles grunted an okay and went to the kitchen. Peter tried writing again. It worked, it was a bit harder, but he managed to write a second hello. After a moment, when both the Stilinskis remembered that they needed to focus on something else before they could see anything, they booth beamed at him. Peter noted a hint of relief in Noah eyes, the man was clearly happy to be able to talk without involving their boy. Peter approved of the protective streak he saw in the man. This time he would be damned if he let the future Sheriff fail his son again.


	41. Chapter 41

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, exposition time. I have decided to follow canon to season 4, at least to my knowledge of canon. Since I have not seen the series for myself I have depended on wikis and such. I started thinking that I could let all of canon happen, but since it seems like they let Peter die, again, I discarded that idea. Because coming back from the dead a second time seems highly unlikely. The Peter I envision after everything would not have bothered. So I leave canon when they stuck him into Eichen House.

They had soon established that Peter could write as long as Stiles was no further than where he could hear Peter. They had tried letting Stiles go upstairs, but that had not worked at all. Peter could also not get anything done on the computer. This was a shame, because he had loved to try sending himself an email. He hadn’t checked his mail often when he traveled, but he had at least tried do get to a net café once a week. And with all what was happening now he was fairly sure his younger self would be even more vigilant. He did get a lot of his information via email after all.

After they had worked out their limitations they had installed Stiles with a game in front of the TV, and Peter with Claudia and Noah sat up shop in the kitchen. It was a bit awkward at first, neither Claudia nor Noah was particularly comfortable with talking to thin air, but it normalized after a while. He then more or less told them his life story. He told them things he hadn’t told anyone before. He was not sure why, but it felt right. And it was kind of a relief to tell somebody, and neither of them could see him, so it was kind of easy too. He really should have thought about writing everything down years earlier. Maybe that would have helped him get over things instead of just pushing it aside.

So Claudia and Noah got the whole story. He told them about the whole mess with Derek and Paige, and how that had led to Derek falling for Kate’s schemes. And how the schism between him and Derek had made him blind to it. And then he told them about the fire. How everyone burned. He told them how he had felt each bond snapping as his pack died around him. The utter shock when Talia died. How he had been forced to put the baby to his cousins down, because they were both human and had succumbed to the smoke way before their werewolf baby did. James had only been a few months old, and he was the reason they had moved to the house in the first place. Adamant to give the boy the best pack they knew of. Peter stilled dreamed about how small and fragile he had been, and the awful feeling when he snapped his neck. And after that he had burned. He could not explain how he lived. He hadn’t wanted to live, but somehow did anyway.

Here Claudia broke down in tears, and told him she was so, so sorry for what had happened to him. Peter was kind of astonished at that, because he did not paint a pretty picture of himself, and she still tried to comfort him.

He told them about how he had been trapped inside his body and how the years with thoughts only on revenge had driven him mad. And then Laura came, lured in by the machinations of his nurse. And he had killed her. He told this part clinically, refusing to express his mixed emotions about what had happened, but he didn’t try to excuse himself. He gave them the explanation, his grief, his madness his consuming rage, but that was not an excuse. He was too far beyond redemption to even try for that.

He had no problems with telling them about how he got revenge on everyone that had caused his family’s destruction, but he had hesitated before telling them about Scott, and subsequently his dealings with Stiles. But he powered through, this was after all the part they most wanted to hear about. And if he focused more on Stiles’ ingenuity and smarts than on Scott’s bravery and uttermost refusal to do anything he considered amoral it was neither here nor there. Because Stiles had stood his ground against a monster, and won.

His tale of his death and resurrection was first met with disbelief, but he reminded them that he was a time traveling werewolf that only their son could see, surely a little bit of emulating Lazarus could not compare to that.

He then tried to explain how he had been when he came back, how the rage had been mostly settled and he had tried, so very hard, to be a part of Derek’s pack. Tried to forge new bonds, and managed somewhat with Derek, but not enough to be truly satisfied. And then there was the alpha pack, sacrifices and mayhem. Neither of them took it well when he explained that Stiles had sacrificed himself for his father, and later been possessed as a thank you for his troubles.  But at least he managed to help save Stiles from the Nogitsune, so that particular story had a happy ending. If you disregarded all the emotional trauma that Stiles had to deal with afterwards at least.

And then the whole deadpool thing that had finally been revealed to be because of him, but he refused to take responsibility for that mess. He could hardly help what happens when two mentally unsound people with supernatural talents are kept close together. And that mess had cost him everything he had managed to salvage for himself. When he ended up in Eichen House he was truly broken. And even if he managed to escape eventually he didn’t really bounce back. He refused to try and find a new pack, instead he took to traveling. Keeping away from people when he felt he had low control, and otherwise just trying to find solace in discovering old and new secrets. He had mostly stayed alive and reasonable sane to spite everyone who would prefer to see him dead or locked up.

He had managed to live like that for nearly a decade when Stiles finally found him. He never found out how, because Peter had shed everything that had anything to do with his old life and hadn’t had any contact with anyone who knew him from before since his escape. But Stiles had offered him a chance to do more than just live. And Peter had taken it. He didn’t know what had happened that made Stiles want to take such drastic measures, but he guessed that something big had happened. Because the only other person Peter had recognized was Scott, and even he had seemed grim. It was not something that had made echoes outside of Beacon Hills, but that didn’t need to mean anything. For some reason the odd things that happened in their hometown rarely made the national news.

When he finished his tale by telling them about his current existence the whole day had passed. The Stilinskis had taken frequent breaks, for food, for spending time with their kid and sometimes just to get away from the horrors that Peter described, but Peter had written more or less constantly. He didn’t get tiered but when he was finished he felt like he had bared his soul for them to see. He knew he hadn’t really told them what they most wanted to know. But he couldn’t give them what they wanted, he didn’t know any timeline for Claudia. He knew she would die, and he knew her illness, but he didn’t know details. Stiles hadn’t told him any of that. He had probably been tempted to ask Peter to save his mother, if he would end up going far enough, but he hadn’t actually asked. He probably had thought it would not do any good anyway, because Peter was not a good person. So why would he help anyone that didn’t matter to him?

“…This is quite a story.” Noah finally broke the silence after reading the last page Peter had written.

“Thank you for not telling it to our son. I can’t really condone many of your actions in the future, but at least you have behaved remarkably restricted since you got here.”

“This bond you have with Stiles, can it hurt him?” Claudia went straight for what she thought was most important, Peter agreed.

_I don’t think so. So far he doesn’t feel it, and as long as it’s one way, the only one the bond can hurt is me._

“How can it hurt you?”

_If Stiles get hurt I will feel it, and if he dies it will probably drive me mad. And it is hard to stay away from him, probably because I have lived without any bonds for so long. Having one again, it’s like… It’s like coming home after being away for a long time._

“I think we need to think about this for a while. We still have questions, but this has been a long day, and I for one would like to see a movie and cuddle with our kid.” Claudia gathered all the written pages and put them into a map.

Peter took a moment, and then asked one last thing.

_Can I stay? Being close to Stiles… help. I can shift to my wolf form if that makes you more comfortable._

Both Noah and Claudia frowned when they read the question. Then looked at each other, clearly communicating without speaking.

“Sure, take the same chair as before, if you are here I like to know where.” Noah finally agreed.

_Thank you._

Peter transformed into a wolf and got back into the living room where he found Stiles deep entranced in a video game. Peter was frankly astonished that he had managed to write anything if the kid had focused this much on a game the whole time. But maybe he could do several things at the same time. Peter left Stiles alone and jumped up onto his chair. He would have liked to be closer, but he would follow the rules for now. He settled down, and watched as Stiles played on, focusing more on the boy than what he was playing. This would do for now.


	42. Chapter 42

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief look on the day from Stiles' perspective. 
> 
> One thing that is really annoying with writing about the past is trying to find out what the hell you did back then. And I have always stuck to computers, so the whole console world is foreign to me. And then there is the whole issue of what 8 year old boys like. So I search for good games for at least half an hour and it ends up with two measly unspecific sentences. That I probably could have written anyway.

Stiles had had a weird day. He could not decide if it had been good or completely awful. It was awesome that he had been able to help Peter from a distance, it had been quite easy after a while too. That had to mean that his magic was getting stronger, or maybe just his bond with Peter. But either one of those things was something absolutely fantastic. The thing that sucked with that enchanted ability was that he was relegated to the living room. He hated being left out. But he did get to play games the whole day, and that never happened. So he was conflicted over the whole thing.

In the beginning he had been so cross with the whole situation that he had had trouble focusing on playing. He kept to Super Mario, he knew the levels inside and out and mostly tried to get higher scores. And it gave him the opportunity to try and hear what his parents were saying in the kitchen. All the while keeping up his absolute belief that Peter would be able to write his heart out. But that plan failed spectacularly. Well, Peter could obviously write, but he didn’t hear anything. His parents didn’t seem to talk much, and when they did they kept it down. It had been disappointing and he had contemplated abandoning the game and sneak closer. He decided against it, he felt like this was not a situation where he could bend the rules. So he tried focusing on the game, but mostly he wondered about what Peter wrote.

He stopped wonder about that when his mom got out of the kitchen and almost ran to him the first time. She more or less attacked him in her need to get hugs. So Peter had obviously said something upsetting. She wouldn’t tell him what but demanded that he would hug Peter later. Because she thought that he needed it. And she needed Stiles to be a good boy and stay safe, and maybe not get too close to the Hales. She had sounded scared when she told him that. Stiles was confused by the whole thing, and a little bit scared. He decided that he maybe didn’t want to know everything that had happened to Peter.

After that both his parents got out and kept him company from time to time. Stiles decided to enjoy it. It was not often both his parents had so much time for him on the same time. He loved it. Well, he loved it when they were focused on him. Not so much the more and more haggard looks they got from whatever Peter wrote. So he tried to make them laugh, and even got them to play a bit with him. He talked about everything he could think of, but stayed away from the supernatural stuff. So he talked about Scott, and school, and how the other kids had started to leave them alone. And they had gotten a reading list for the summer and he had already gone through the books. And then they ended up discussing books he liked which lead to movies and then games. He thought he managed to distract them at least some of the time.

 And then he started to play Zelda and kind of zoned out for a bit. Well, he still kept part of his brain focused on Peter, but that had been easier and easier as the day progressed. So he had been surprised when his dad had made him turn of the game because it was time for pizza and movies and Peter had been back in the chair. As a wolf. He had completely missed that he had gotten back. But eating in front of the TV was good, and they watched old Disney movies. It was nice.

And he tried to avoid thinking about why he had gotten all the good stuff, because he really hated how his parents looked sometimes. Peter didn’t look any better either, even as a wolf he kind of radiated hurt and anguish. Stiles wanted to cuddle with him too, but he was boxed in by his parents, and they seemed to want to not think about Peter for a while. So Stiles complied, he sent a few worried looks toward the wolf, but didn’t say anything. His parents were more important right now, and he really wanted them to feel better. And if that meant that he should focus on old movies and try and get the last slice so be it.

So the day had been both good and awful. He hoped tomorrow would go back to normal. Because he felt that Peter’s world had maybe intruded a bit too much now. And he wanted to help, sure, but not so much that he would want every day be like this one. He didn’t like when his parent were worried. So a part of him wanted to just hand everything over to the Hales and be done with it, his own magic be damned. But he knew that it was already too late. Because now his dad was involved, and he would do the right thing even if it was scary. He always did.


	43. Chapter 43

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of an abrupt ending this time, but it was getting really long and I have some adulting to do, so you get this part now and the rest later. Probably tonight.

Peter settled into a routine during the next couple of days. Somehow Stiles had managed to convince his parents that having Peter as a wolf sleeping next to him was a good thing. It was probably approved because Peter could keep his nightmares away, nobody mentioned that Peter was the cause of the nightmares to begin with. They had never progressed far, so Peter wasn’t sure just how disturbed Stiles was over the whole thing. He seemed to focus on the positive side during the day, so Peter didn’t ask. Stiles was not a boy to keep quiet if he wanted to talk so Peter gave him his space.

It had been weirdly easy to start sleeping through the nights. It was something about lying beside a sleeping pack-mate, it just drew him under. His dreams alternated between dreams of pack and snippets of impressions from the other Peter. He seemed to have followed Talia’s orders and was on his way to Scotland, but he did not hurry. Peter got the impression that he found every known hunter on the way to ask about the Argents. But he kept it vague, and he abstained from hurting anybody. Peter was not sure how much he accomplished, but he knew himself, he would find out something.

During the days he alternated between spending time with Stiles and his dad if Noah had a late shift or spending time watching over the Hales if Stiles stayed with his mother at the library. It was hard checking in on his family. The tension was high, and there were a lot of arguing on how they wanted to advance. Violet and her family had gotten home, so the two sisters spent a lot of time together with their husbands trying to make a plan. Laura joined them when she came back from Europe. She was the only one of the children who got included. Somehow Derek managed to keep to himself that he had actually read the letter.

Eloise did not take it well that she was not included. She tried to convince Laura that she should tell her, but Laura refused. Laura for her part was not really happy about knowing. Peter hadn’t managed to get inside to listening in any of the meetings, so he didn’t know what stance everybody took. He was fairly sure Talia would want to find a non violent solution, probably involving human law. Laura usually agreed with her mother. Violet could be more bloodthirsty, and it was her kids that would die, so Peter would not be surprised if she argued for a fast execution. Joseph and Andrew could go both ways, they had grown up human after all, and had a strong belief in the justice system. Andrew had gotten a bit more ferocious when he took the bite, but Peter was not sure if it was enough.

He really thought that they could benefit by including Noah, but the man had not finished thinking the whole situation over yet. And he was busy trying to keep himself together while managing his job and trying to find the best place to test if Claudia was ill. They didn’t want to go to the local hospital, Peter was not sure why. Maybe it was just an excuse to push it forward a bit, sometimes living in denial was a blessing after all.

Peter liked the evenings the most. Somehow he felt included in the Stilinski family, even if Stiles was the only one to see him. But Claudia had gotten him a mini whiteboard, so he could write to them without consuming ridiculous amounts of paper. The more he used it the easier it became, and Stiles could be further and further away. He could now carry the thing with him as long as he stayed in the house and Stiles was home.

They had a lot of discussions. Both with and without Stiles. The talks that included Stiles were mainly focused on either how the supernatural world worked or something about the future. Peter kept it vague about future stuff, he was not sure about the rules of his existence, and he really didn’t want to break something by telling too much when it was not important.

But he told Stiles about Malia, he though he deserved to know something real, and he and Malia had been good friends. Well, more than that actually, but he kept that part to himself. He didn’t think that anybody should feel obligated to pursue something romantic just because it had happened to a version of oneself. But he told them about how Malia had been wild and fierce and absolutely loyal to them she deemed worthy.

He kept from Stiles how one of his biggest regrets had been losing that trust. Malia had refused to talk to him after he had tried to steal Scott’s powers, and after his time in Eichen House he had not been able to seek her out. He had felt too broken and damaged to risk failing to get her to understand. And when Stiles found him she had been nowhere to be seen. Peter was not sure what had happened to her, he hadn’t asked. Because if he didn’t know any different she would be fine. And well, now she would be better. Maybe they would never have any kind of relationship, but she would be better. She would get to keep her family, and somehow Peter would make sure that Corinne got taken out of the picture. He had some plans about that.

Stiles liked the stories about Malia, and Peter hoped that they could be friends in this timeline too. It wouldn’t hurt Stiles, or Malia for that matter, to get a friend who was as deeply rooted in the supernatural but also needed to learn everything. They didn’t go to the same school, but surely they could be introduced. And Malia needed to be told that she was a coyote before finding out the hard way.

Peter had no idea what he wanted to do about her adoptive family. He never really knew how much they told Henry, or how the man had reacted if he got told. He knew Malia had loved him, so he had to have been a good father before the car crash. But would they accept her animal side? Because she could not stay home and hide that she was a coyote, it would take time for her to learn control and before she got that she would not be able to hide her animal side from anyone.

Peter wasn’t sure why she had manifested as a coyote so late. Werewolves were usually obvious from birth, but maybe coyotes were different. Well, they took some of their mother’s powers when they were born, so obviously they were different, but how could they absorb that power put still appear completely human? It was mindboggling.

He told some of this to Claudia. The woman was immensely empathic and really easy to talk to. She let him stay because she though he deserved a second chance. He told her about his early life, how he had always felt a bit outside of the pack but still been fiercely loyal to them. He tried to explain how Talia’s non violence policy had grated on him, he felt that sometimes there was no choice but violence. Some threats could not be talked down, and human law could not protect the pack from everything. Surprisingly she had agreed. She had looked towards Stiles, who was in the kitchen helping his dad, and quietly asked if they could somehow do something about the Nogitsune. She understood that he probably wanted to focus on his family, but she hated the idea of something so evil close enough to threaten her boy. Peter had paused a long time for that question, and then promised to think about it.

The future sheriff let him stay because he felt like Peter was his best source of information. Noah would probably confirm what he could with Talia, but he seemed to have realized that Peter would do anything to be able to stay close to Stiles. So Noah asked questions. First he focused on getting as much details about his son and his magic as he could possibly get, and then he asked about the Argents and hunters in general.

Talking to Noah was exhausting. He wanted to know every detail, the specific dates, times and people. Peter gave him everything, but some things he didn’t know, and others had been forgotten. But slowly Noah put together a file on everybody who would be involved in any supernatural major events that Peter knew of. But Noah kept quiet about his plans, at least from Peter.


	44. Chapter 44

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made myself sad, so maybe there will be a happy ending for Claudia. I can't guarantee that, but the chances have gone up. We’ll see what the story demand of me.

As the weekend got closer Noah and Claudia called for a family meeting. Which included Peter, they even got a chair out for him. Stiles was a bit suspicious of the whole thing, by the looks of him Peter gathered that family meetings did not usually mean something good. He felt Stiles anxiety rise through the bond. Peter put a hand on his shoulder, trying to push reassurance through the bond, Stiles relaxed a little bit.

“Stiles, as you know things have gotten a bit, weird, lately.” Noah began, then paused. Stiles snickered, and Peter felt the immense relief through the bond. He was not so sure the kid should breathe out just yet. He suspected they would talk about Claudia.

“Yeah, that was kind of an understatement, wasn’t it?” Noah smiled at his son. Then took a deep breath and took Claudia’s hand.

“Peter gave us some news… That was quite upsetting. I know you have realized that the future Peter is from is kind of bad.” Stiles nodded solemnly at his dads words.

“But we will fix it? Right?” He sounded so sure of it. Like now that his dad was involved nothing could go wrong.

“We will certainly try. But some things… Some things are not always fixable.” Noah closed his eyes, trying to get himself under control again. “So we are going on a trip to meet with some specialists to try and figure out some of our options.”

“Specialists? What kind of specialists?”

“Honey… There is a possibility that I am sick.” Claudia said quietly. “According to Peter it is quite bad, and if he is right… But we need to find out for sure, and one of the best doctors in the field has agreed to meet with me next Tuesday.”

Peter felt Stiles anxiety skyrocket, damn, he was astonished that they told him this much.

“What will happen to her?!” Stiles demanded of Peter. Peter just looked at him, helpless. He had already decided to let Stiles parents decide how much he should know, but every instinct in his body screamed at him to just scoop the kid up and take him somewhere safe. And that was a stupid fucking feeling, because this could not be solved by hiding.

“You need to trust your parents in this. Please, don’t make me tell you.” Peter pleaded, letting some of his feelings show.

Claudia got up and made Stiles sit on her lap, hugging him tightly. “Peter’s future will not happen to us. Sweetheart, we have got time to find a solution. It’s a rare disease, but research is being made, and if I have it we will find out really early. And if normal science doesn’t work there is magic. If you think I will leave you without doing my uttermost best to fight it you don’t know me at all.”

Noah had gotten up and put a hand on Stiles shoulder. “We don’t know enough yet. But that is what this trip is about, meeting experts that can tell us more. So we are going to San Francisco on Monday, and we would like you to come with us. But if you prefer you can stay with Scott and Melissa for a few days.”

“I want to come with.” Stiles mumbled into his mother’s chest, burrowing as close as he could. Peter felt useless, he couldn’t do anything to help Noah and Claudia. He hated it. He had started to really like the pair and the only thing he could do for them he had already accomplished.

“Good, Tuesday will probably be a bit boring for you, but as you come with we can stay the rest of the week. Make a vacation of it as we wait for the results from the testing.”

“Don’t you need to work?” Stiles looked up from his mother. “You said that you couldn’t take a vacation this summer because you were short on people at the department.”

“Kid, if you think I will let your mother and you do this without me because of my job I really must have done something wrong raising you. Of course you two come first. The Sheriff understands, and so far the summer has been really quiet. They can handle things without me for a week.”

Stiles was quiet for a long time, “can we get pizza in front of a movie? I think we deserve pizza for this.” Claudia laughed, looking relived that their son had decided to let it go for now.

“Absolutely, I know exactly what we should see.” She got up, with Stiles still in her arms. She was stronger than she looked.

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....” She started while carrying Stiles towards the living room. Peter stayed in the kitchen, keeping an eye on Noah who was calling for takeout.

_Is there anything I can do?_

He wrote, hoping the man would see it before going to his family. After Noah finished his call he saw the whiteboard on the table.

“Thank you, but I think we will manage. Maybe go wolf and stay close? Stiles seem to like that.” He smiled at Peter’s general direction. Peter still felt blown away by the man’s acceptance.

_Will do._

He got up from the table and shifted. This time he would lie in front of the couch, so Stiles could reach him if he wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's highly unrealistic to just get an appointment with a specialist based on a hunch, with no prior visits at a hospital. But the Sheriff is freaking dedicated, and his dad has dementia. You can't tell me that he does not have the resources and contacts to make it happen.


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ending the night with a short bit of Stiles and Scott fluff. Because I have kind of neglected them.

Stiles spent the weekend obsessing over Star Wars. It was easier than to think about how his mom was… No, she would be fine. She said so. So, Star Wars, the first movie had been awesome, so he had managed to convince his parents that they should see the other two. And then he got to know that they had made two new ones. And the second of them was in theaters now. And his parents had not seen the first one. So he got his dad to rent it for them. It was a bit weird since he knew Anakin would turn evil, but it was still good. And Anakin was about his age and magic, so he kind of resonated with him. But he hoped that he would not become evil when he grew up. He much rather be Han Solo.

Scott came over Sunday. He was not interested in Star Wars but listened anyway. At least Stiles though he listened, he made the right noises anyway. But he completely bested him in Mario Kart, so it was possible that Scott mostly focused on the game. Stiles didn’t care, he got to play with his best friend, talk about a new obsession and not think about the future. It was good.

He didn’t tell Scott about Peter, or his mother or anything important. He felt a bit bad about that, but his parents had asked him not to, at least for a while. It was bad enough that Stiles was involved, no need to drag Scott into the madness. And it was kind of nice having someone he could just relax with, forgetting everything for a while. And Peter hadn’t said anything about Scott in the future. Well, Peter hadn’t really said anything about anyone he knew in the future, so maybe it didn’t mean anything. He seemed to know about Scott at least, so there was that.

Stiles felt like he had managed to keep the chaos that was his emotions inside when it was time for Scott to leave, but his friend had noticed something.

“Hey, is everything alright with you?” Scott had asked when they ended the game, looking earnestly at Stiles.

“Yeah… Just, going through some stuff… I’m not really ready to talk about it yet.” That was a half truth, but at least not an outright lie.

“But you tell me later?”

“Yes, I promise. Maybe when we get home from San Francisco.” He smiled a little, it probably came out sad.

“You know I’m here for you, right?” Stiles had no idea how Scott could say things like that and not sound cheesy or awkward. He thought it was kind of Scott’s superpower.

“Of course.” Stiles paused for a second, “thank you.”

Stiles had no idea what Scott saw in his face, but it had to be something.

“Anytime.” And Scott hugged him. They nearly never hugged. Usually they kept to a bit rougher types of contact. But Stiles took it, because he had realized that hugging was something he wanted more of. And maybe Scott agreed. Because he gave him his usual goofy smile before saying good bye, not feeling awkward at all. At least he didn’t look like he felt awkward. Maybe it was Stiles who was the reason they didn’t hug usually. Stiles decided then and there that he should experiment by giving Scott a hug in greeting when they got back.

“What happened to Scott in your future?” Stiles asked Peter before going to bed that night.

“He grew up, still your best friend. You had some rough patches, like friends do but as far as I know you always forgave each other. He was good with animals, I think he wanted to be a veterinarian but I don’t know if he actually went for it.”

Stiles hummed in response, feeling tired. He felt like Peter didn’t tell him a lot, but at least Stiles and Scott had stayed friends. That was really what was most important.


	46. Chapter 46

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, this is getting way too relatable. Why the hell is it always the mother who has to die?

The drive to San Francisco had been uneventful. Since they had all day they left after lunch and only paused briefly to let Stiles stretch his legs. He didn’t do well when forced to sit still for hours. But they got to their hotel right about dinner time, so they checked in and then found somewhere to eat. All of them wanted comfort food, the reality of why they where there was heavy on their shoulders.

Stiles shuffled his food around the plate, he was not really hungry. Both his mom and dad managed to eat, but Stiles had a hard time getting anything down. He felt like his stomach was made of lead and he looked miserably at his food. He’d got waffles, which normally would be a treat to get for dinner. He hadn’t really believed he would get it when he asked, and now… Now he kind of didn’t want it. He nibbled at a strawberry, the sweetness was overwhelming.

“Hey kid, you need to eat.” His dad looked at him with concern.

“I’m not hungry.” Stiles pushed his plate away.

“Do you want some of my fries? See, they are curly, I think it’s my favorite shape for fries. Have you ever tried?” Something in Stiles broke at his moms words. Here he was making both his parents worry for him, when it was his mom who… He took a deep breath, and tried to get his emotions under control.

“I can try one. Do you want a strawberry in return?” He took the curly fried potato. It tasted good, salty and more palatable than the sweetness of his meal.

“How about you take my fries, and I get your waffles?”

Stiles nodded, and his dad seemed to relax, looking relieved at the solution. Stiles mom quickly rearranged their food, and Stiles managed to get half of the fries down. He felt a bit better.

“So, I think we should go to bed early today, because we need to be at the hospital at nine tomorrow morning. And after we can go and discover some of the city. Sound fair?” His dad asked as they walked out of the restaurant.

“Okay…” Stiles kind of dreaded going to sleep, he had grown accustomed to having the soothing presence of a wolf beside him, and tonight he would sleep alone. He had forbidden Peter to teleport to him. He didn’t want the man to be stuck in a big city so far from his family. Not for a whole week. He kind of regretted that now. But it was better for Peter this way, and he would manage. Somehow.

When they got back to the hotel his parents let him use the bathroom first. He took a shower, wanting to wash away the day. He hoped it would be better after his mom had taken the tests. Because then they would know. But he didn’t really believe it would be better, because nobody had told him what they thought his mom had. Only that it was bad, and rare, and that didn’t sound good to Stiles. It sounded scary, like there was the possibility that his mom wouldn’t make it. And he kind of really hated himself. Because he supposedly would have this amazing power in the future, power enough to actually send somebody back in time. But he had not made sure that Peter could save his mother? Because he was certain that if Peter knew a solution he would have told them. Maybe he had, but why had he not reassured Stiles that everything would be fine? Everyone talked about getting all the options that were available, but surely magic could just fix it?

He didn’t feel any better when he got out of the shower. His thoughts had dragged him down, and when he got out of the bathroom he must have looked dreadful, because as soon as his parents saw him they surrounded him in a hug, one on each side of him.

“I don’t want to sleep alone, don’t make me sleep alone.” Stiles sobbed into his dads shoulder.

“Hush, you can sleep between us, our bed is big enough for three. Oh my little Mischief, everything will be okay. We will make it through this.” His mother said against his hair, pressing her body closer.

“How about we get you to bed, I promise we will not leave you alone.” His dad picked him up and carried him to the bed. Stiles felt like he maybe should protest, he was too big to be carried around like this, and this was the second time in only a couple of days. But it felt too good, it made him feel safe, and loved and just maybe that everything would work out.

His parents took turns using the bathroom, but kept their promise of always having one of them next to him in bed, cradling their fingers through his hair, talking in low voices about nonsensical things. Slowly he felt himself relax, and let sleep take him.


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I take a lot of liberties with how the US health system works, because I honestly have no idea. But the feeling from media is that if you spend money you can get whatever. And I take even more liberties with Claudia’s illness, because I am sure testing would not be done this way. But I don't care, in my world it will be possible to discover frontotemporal dementia with bloodwork and scans, even if it haven't really manifested yet.

Stiles didn’t sleep well, but every time he woke up he was soothed by the closeness of his parents. He at least managed to not wake them but he was not particularly well rested when morning came.

They had a quiet breakfast in their room, none of them feeling like talking. Stiles felt antsy, he was nervous and he mostly felt like he wanted everything to just stop. But his mom didn’t look good, and he felt like his dad should focus on her right now, so he kept quiet. He felt bad that he had not been able to stay strong the day before and was adamant that he should manage to be there for his mother today. He knew that his silence probably was a bit worrying, but that he couldn’t help. Because he was not sure that he would keep it together if he started talking.

When they got to the hospital they were made to wait. Their doctor was running late, but they didn’t need to worry, a nurse reassured them, they would get help in less than half an hour. The waiting room was beautiful, with comfortable chairs and a lot of plants. There was even a small fountain in the corner, making a soothing sound of running water. It was way different from the hospital where Melissa worked.

 Stiles had a backpack with books, comics and games with him but he was not feeling like doing anything. Instead he just sat in his mom's lap and let her hold him. She held a bit too tight, like she needed to really hold on to something to not drift away. It was okay, Stiles could take it. His dad alternated between sitting next to them, arm around his mom’s shoulder and pacing the waiting room.

When finally their physician showed up they were ushered into an office that had, on top of the usual desk and cabinets, a couch and some chairs. Stiles had to let go of his mom at go sit on the couch as the doctor asked some general questions to his mom. He hummed in response to her answers, looking a bit confused on why they were there. Because his mom did not really have any symptoms of whatever they were there for. Sometimes the doctor sent a look towards Stiles before saying something, often something vague, like the doctor had been told not to be too specific with him in the room. Stiles almost wanted them to leave for the real examination so his mom would get the help she needed. Because if they held back for his sake it would probably be best if he was left alone, even if the thought made his chest grow heavy.

His dad seemed to have the same thought, because he interrupted the conversation and asked if they could just get on with the tests. He sounded tense, but determined. He then asked if there were somewhere Stiles could wait, and the doctor agreed to let him stay in the room. And then they left. His dad made him promise to behave himself, and promised to look into him from time to time. And that they probably would be out of there before lunch.

Stiles settled in on the couch, taking out a book and trying to read. It went poorly, he had a hard time focusing on the words. But he could wait, for his mom’s sake. Today was about her, and right now she needed Stiles to not do anything stupid. Even if Stiles kind of wanted to snoop around the office, because he could probably figure out what kind of physician their doctor was, and then he would know what his mom had. But he refrained, because his parents hadn’t told him, and he trusted his parents. But it was hard to wait.

His dad got back, telling him how his mom had gone through a general examination, and now they were taking her blood for testing. After that they would do a CT scan, and then they could leave. Stiles got his dad to go back to his mom, because needles were scary and his mom deserved to have his dad there. But he was grateful for the update, and he knew what a CT scan was, and even if he knew he would have trouble staying still for one, it was not dangerous. He idly wondered how his dad had managed to get them there, because he was sure that it was not regular practice to get to see an expert and get testing this fast. But he didn’t worry too much about it, because his dad was awesome so of course he could manage to get his mom the best help possible. His dad could do anything.

Then finally his mom showed up, hugging him fiercely. She seemed relieved, and really happy with being done with the examinations.

“Are you ready to leave? I for one would like to forget everything about hospitals and examinations. So I suggest we get lunch and then try to find the best ice-cream in the city. I’m prepared to try at least three places. Are you game?”

Stiles nodded, yes, if she wanted to forget, then he could too. They met up with his dad in the lobby, and then left. It was sunny outside. Stiles relaxed and decided to make the rest of the day as good as possible. For his mom, she deserved it.


	48. Chapter 48

Peter was having a miserable time. It had started when Stiles left with his family, the progressing distance made the bond feel more and more brittle, but Stiles anxiety and anguish still came through. Peter had a really hard time refraining from going to him. Everything in his body ached to leave, but he had promised, so he stayed put. But it hurt.

He had tried to distract himself with his family, but observing them only made it worse. They kept touching each other, kept reaching out like they wanted to reaffirm that everybody was still there, alive and well. So Peter had left. He knew he would not say anything about that to Stiles, because Stiles wanted him to have his family, and the kid didn’t need to know that Stiles was starting to be more important. Peter would still do everything to save the Hales, but he didn’t feel like he wanted to reunite with them anymore. Maybe too much had happened to him. He hoped the other Peter would never feel like he did, because this was awful.

Peter was aware that he had a hoard of mental issues. He didn’t really trust anyone but himself, he was paranoid, had anger issues and was really close to violence. He was probably a bit suicidal too, this whole endeavor had started because he really didn’t feel like his old life was worth much. And it was probably not healthy to start depending so much on a young boy this fast, especially for the kid. But he couldn’t help it, Stiles made him feel more like himself. Feel like he actually wanted to do something for someone else for a change. Maybe it was the boy’s innocent trust in his belief that Peter was a good person. It was a really long time since anybody had believed that, probably not since the whole Paige thing. Peter wasn’t sure he would be able to keep it up. But right now he was adamant that he would not break his promise to Stiles. No matter how much it hurt.

It became a bit easier about halfway through Tuesday. Stiles feelings became lighter and sometimes he even felt happy. But the bond still didn’t feel right, it was stretched too thin to give the usual comfort. The only relief it gave Peter was the knowledge that Stiles was still alive, that he was still there. And it helped that Stiles felt better, Peter still had a nagging feeling that he was in the wrong place, but it didn’t feel like a physical pain anymore. But he avoided sleep. He couldn’t stomach the missing pack-dreams, so instead he wandered the woods.

Peter managed to keep himself busy. He spent a lot of time in his pond as a wolf, the feeling of water was soothing. Water was at least one thing that had never symbolized something bad for him. He also visited the Nemeton, mainly to make sure that it still slept. He hoped he would be able to keep it sleeping. Maybe it could be used for good, but it had been the center of so much anguish that Peter didn’t care. He would quite frankly be happy to see it burn if that would not spell an even bigger catastrophe. So sleeping was best.

He couldn’t feel the Nogitsune, so guessed it was dormant. But it would probably not hurt to find a way to destroy it. Who knew how much the vengeful spirit was influencing the stump. But he felt like it could wait. The fire was his first concern. And then Claudia… He was sure the testing would confirm his story. And then they could work on a solution. He hoped the bite would work, well, if she survived it would cure her, of that he was certain. But the issue was that pesky little if. Because Claudia was a bit older than really recommended to turn. Absolutely not too old, there was no too old, but the risks went up with age. Well, it was not recommended for really young ones either, teenagers to young adults had the highest change of survival. And then there was her illness, which really didn’t make it better. She would have a higher chance the faster she took the bite, but would she risk losing at least a year with her family? Was it worth the chance of survival? Maybe it would be better to try and find another magical solution. But then, future Stiles had to have known there was a chance he could send Peter back far enough that he could make a difference. Surely he would have investigated every possible cure for his mother. And since he hadn’t said anything… There probably only were the bite.

He kind of hated that he had started to care, and not only for Stiles’ sake. It was easier to not bother with other people. But his bond with Stiles had forced him to change his ways. And he was actually grateful for that. But if Claudia didn’t make it, if she took the bite but rejected it, Peter feared that it would make Stiles reject him. But he would probably not want Peter around if Claudia didn’t take the bite either. So maybe it would be best if Peter could finish his business with the Argents, and then just. Leave.

He had a month at least, surely he would be able to get Noah and his sisters to get a solution. Maybe they could bring Christopher in, he was usually honorable. And if they told him there was a risk of both Victoria and Allison dying, surely he would turn on his father and sister. At least to make sure that they follow the code, and that Peter was sure they didn’t do. You don’t just start with burning a family alive, or turn a peace-talk into a bloodbath.

He sighed and return to his pond. He really wanted Stiles back, he got entirely too depressed on his own.  


	49. Chapter 49

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A brief interlude by young Peter. My day have been entirely too exhausting to tackle the results of the testing. So instead you get rambling about time travel, good times.

Peter was starting to feel a bit desperate. He had listened to the old bat drove on and on about time lords, and daleks and for god’s sake, he was just here to placate Talia, and find out everything this woman knows about time travel. But as soon as he gets her to talk a bit about something real she immediately veers off on another tangent related to the stupid show. He has started to believe that she is actually crazy and thinks that the TV-series is real. He would have excused himself ages ago if it wasn’t for the real smell of magic on her.

“…and that charming scarf, I actually knitted one for my late husband, he didn’t really believe in time travel but he liked the colors so it…”

Peter tried to keep a polite smile, contemplating if it would be excusable to inflict just a little bit of pain to get her to keep focus. Surely even Talia would lose her patience with this drivel.

“Sorry, madam, but I don’t really think that scarves have anything to do with my situation, no matter how charming.” Peter interrupted, trying to not sound as snide but probably failing spectacularly.

“Now, young man, you never know when the oddest detail is important. Especially with time travel, going back and changing the color of, say, a dress can have devastating consequences. I decided ages ago that if I ever get it to work I will only go forward. Much less dangerous. I mean, the temptation to change things would be much too large if I went back, like do you know how close I was to actually befriend the third doctor? He was such a dreamy man, and I got so close to have dinner with him. But my husband wouldn’t have it, the dear man was terribly jealous.” She looked at him with big innocent grey eyes, her hair shock white but still thick. She still held the memory of beauty, and Peter could see why a man would have been possessive.

“Please, tell me about the consequences.” He tried to keep his excitement private, finally she said something of value.

“Well surely you must know that it is terribly hard to change time. History is not set in stone, but it is carved deeply. And if you disrupt something it will create waves that will do its utmost to revert everything back to the original state, with the possibility of extra trauma on top of everything. Science would not be useful at all in going back. Going forward on the other hand, I am so close, forward is no problem, because you don’t change anything if you go forward, since your going has already happened.”

Peter felt his stomach sink, did this mean that they were destined to burn? No, he refused, this woman had only theories, and was crazy to boot.

“How about magic, if someone was sent back by magic, could they change things?” He really hoped she had some positive answers.

“Magic? Don’t be silly, magic can’t be used for time travel, you need way too much power to make it work. And it would completely destroy the original time line, you would not be able to go back. There is no use in trying even if you had the power.” She glared at him, seeming peeved at him even asking about it.

“But if somebody was sent back, they could make a difference?”

“Well… I suppose, but magic makes things a bit, iffy. You see, magic doesn’t like people messing with stuff. So for it to work it has to be a damn good reason why they were sent back, and the person doing the magic has to be willing to sacrifice themselves and everybody they know to do it. And magic would impose some sort of obstacle. I wouldn’t risk it. The chance of going back and then only be able to talk in riddles a really real.” She shuddered. “I really hate riddles, stupid things, always trying to trick you.”

“So, if a person was sent back and then could only be seen by one other person, that would be because of magic?” Peter felt relief, if magic made changing things possible, if they just worked around limitations then it was already a done deal.

“…You are oddly specific.” She looked suspiciously at him. “Have you been mucking around with time?”

“Well, not me per say. Or, in a sense you could say that I have, but not yet.” Peter felt it was alright to tell her, he was confident he could handle her if she would get dangerous ideas, and she had started to make sense as soon as magic was introduced into the conversation. He should probably have started with that, but he had wanted to get a feel for her first. That was a mistake, next time he was sent to talk to crazy old people, he would just tell them what he knew from the beginning. It would save so much time.

“So somebody in a future, sent a future you back and now only one person can see him? I gather it is not you since you are here asking me about time travel and if you had met yourself you would already know or possibly cease to exist. It’s a bit of a toss-up, but there can only be one you at the same time and space.”

“Well, yes. I stayed here in Europe just in case. You seem remarkably sure after first telling me magic would not work for time-travel.” Peter did believe her, she just confirmed something he already reckoned. But it didn’t hurt to get to know her reasoning.

“I have a hard time believing how somebody powerful enough to send somebody back would also be selfless enough to actually do it. But the consequences for meeting yourself would be the same, no matter the way of travel. Even distance will not help in the end, two versions of the same person will not be allowed.”

Peter winced, he hated the sound of that.

“So, what will happen? Will the other me just, take over?”

“Not necessarily, you could possibly just merge, getting to share one body, develop a kind of split personality keeping both your minds intact. Or well, you could absorb all his memories, but that would be like he took over I suppose, the memories makes the man after all.”

“I there no way to, make him go away?”

“You would kill yourself? But think of the knowledge! How can you possibly want to give that up?” She looked baffled, like the thought was unfathomable.

“He has survived burning alive and losing our whole pack, I would live just fine without his memories.” His tone was dry, this was not something anyone would want.

“…I see.” She looked him over, “you could just ask him.”

“…Ask him?” Peter was baffled.

“Yes, I believe he would be able to just stop to exist. He is he by magic, and I’m sure there are some things he need to do, because magic would never allow him to travel here if it didn’t have a task for him, but as soon as he is done he could just, stop.”

“I am not so selfless that I would sacrifice myself for anybody else. Even a version of myself.” Peter was sure of this, he would cling to life with everything he had. He had even learned a ritual to come back from death if that would ever seem likely. He probably should make preparations for that either way. The situation being what it was.”

“Even if you had burned alive and lost your whole pack?” She looked sharply at him, damn, she was like a whole different person than the crazy old lady from the beginning of their conversation.

“…Maybe. I try not to think about that.”

“I suggest asking, but maybe help do what he came here for first, it never hurts being on somebody’s good side, even if it’s yourself.” She smiled at him.

Peter thought it over, it was a possibility. They talked some more, he promised to try find out as much as possible on how a version of him had been sent back, and send the information to her. He owed her that much he supposed. He even sat through some more about the stupid doctor, feeling generous since she did come through with good information.


	50. Chapter 50

Peter felt Stiles anxiety come back with a vengeance early Friday morning. It settled down somewhat during the following hours, and a bit into the afternoon Peter felt a relief in the bond. Stiles was getting closer. Peter knew it would take them several hours to get home, but he quickly made his way to the Stiliniskis anyway. He settled down in front of their door as a wolf. He knew Stiles preferred him as a wolf when he needed comforting, and even if he couldn’t do much, he could do this.

The waiting was excruciating. The bond was getting stronger and stronger, and Peter felt an incredible need to just get close to the kid, to get to reaffirm that he was alright, at least physically, and to draw in the scent of pack. When finally they arrived Peter had a hard time to keep still. He took a few step forwards before he managed to stop himself. He would not rush the boy, he would let the kid decide what he wanted to do. But the car had barely stopped before Peter had a very upset Stiles clinging to him for dear life.

“Peter!” Stiles sobbed into his fur, “you need to save her. Tell me you can save her!”

Peter let out a low whine and pressed closer, he really wanted to just promise everything would be okay, but he couldn’t. When he looked up he saw a startled Noah and Claudia, both looked about as upset at Stiles did, but were hiding it better.

“Kid… How about we go inside.” Noah started, carefully extradited Stiles from what to him must look like a terribly odd situation. Or well, Peter had no idea how it looked to them, he knew they didn’t see him, but nobody had managed to explain what they saw when Stiles interacted with him either.

Peter nudged Stiles softly, trying to communicate that he should listen to his father, it seemed to work because not before long they were all gathered in the living room, with Noah protectively holding on to his wife. Claudia mostly looked closed off, probably because she had got a death sentence confirmed.

Peter was in the couch, with Stiles clinging to him, bond throbbing with anguish, fear but also relief for being close to the wolf. Peter guessed that Stiles had begun to get some of the consequences for being pack. He could probably not feel Peter, but he seemed to get the immense sense of belonging a pack entailed. The distance from Peter this week had probably made the feeling so much clearer when he got back.

Noah cleared his throat. “So you were right…” He looked at where he assessed that Peter were, it could not be too hard since Stiles was right there and not letting go.

“I know you can’t really speak right now, wolf form and all, but I think me and Claudia need to meet with Talia again. And I just… Do you want to come? Officially? Or maybe we should invite her here…”

Peter struggled a bit against Stiles hold on him, trying to indicate that he needed to change form. After a bit, Stiles reluctantly let go, and Peter shifted. He gave Stiles a reassuring hug, it was not as good, muted feelings put a dampener on it, but it was something.  He took the whiteboard he had left on the sofa table.

_I’m not sure how I would be able to help. If you have me with you… She would focus on me, not on your situation._

Noah sighed. “You are probably right, but I know that you care… I can’t trust that she does.” He paused for a second. “There is a clinical trial that will start in the fall. They want Claudia to be in it. Apparently it is really rare to detect it so early… They say it could hopefully give her a few extra years of clarity.”

Stiles hid against Peters shoulder, Peter itched to get back to wolf, to be able to comfort Stiles as he needed right now.

_You should talk with Talia, and maybe Deaton, he knows more about healing than I ever bothered with._

Claudia snorted at that, temporarily brought back from her despair. She knew how he felt about the vet, how frustrated he had been with his cryptic ways and he knew about their mutual distrust. The last time Peter had seen Deaton had been in Eichen House. He avoided that memory.

“Didn’t you say that Deaton would not want to upset his precious balance?” Peter had seldom heard Claudia sound so… disparaging.

_Usually yes, but he have a soft spot for Talia, so he would help for her sake. He would probably still want to get rid of me, especially since I already told them what will happen._

“Well, that is silly. You will stay as long as Stiles needs you.”

Peter smiled at that, drawing the boy in a little bit closer. He liked that Claudia and Noah accepted that they were pack. They seemed more willing now than when they left.

_I will do my best, but I think I will only have until the younger me gets home._

“We can talk more about that tomorrow. I think it is time to get Stiles to bed.” Noah looked at his son, who was struggling keeping his eyes open.

“But dad… It is still early.” Stiles whined, trying to hide a yawn.

“It has been a long day, and I know you have been sleeping poorly while away. I promise you won’t miss anything.” Huh, it seemed they had clued the kid in more than Peter would have thought they would. Probably for the best, who knew how long Stiles would be able to refrain from finding out on his own. Peter decided to find out exactly how much they had told him later.

“Come on kid, I haven’t slept at all since you’ve been gone. I don’t really need it, but everything usually feels better after a few hours of sleep.” He got up from the couch, and then shifted to wolf before Stiles had a chance to answer him. He swiftly went to Stiles room. It worked. It didn’t take long before Stiles was ready to go to sleep. Peter settled beside him. Feeling content. He knew things were not good right now, but the feeling of pack made everything else feel distant. He could relax. He let himself fall to sleep, with Stiles snuggled close he was sure he would dream of pack.


	51. Chapter 51

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 50k words. Not bad for thinking to write a drabble about ghost Peter needing Stiles to save his family. It kind of ran away from that. And the very impulsive decision to set it in 2002 had way bigger consequences than I thought about from the start.

Stiles slept better than he had the whole week. He was kind of surprised about it, because the day before had been awful. The week had gotten better after his mom was finished with her tests, they had all made an effort to grant his mom’s wish of forgetting everything for a while. Stiles had trouble sleeping at night, but he actually managed to have fun during the days. But everything had turned sour when they got the results. And it was bad. So bad that his parents had opted to tell him, because he would find out soon enough anyway. And they thought it would be better they explained it before anything started to show.

Frontotemporal Dementia. Even the name sounded horrible. He had known about normal dementia, his grandfather had it after all. He didn’t really remember meeting him, his dad didn’t like him, but he had read about it. How it made you forget. And his mom had an even worse disease. And it was deadly. He really didn’t want to think about it, but it was so hard not to. No wonder Peter didn’t want to tell him about his family in the future, how would he and dad survive without mom? Well, obviously they did, at least Stiles did, he lived to send Peter back after all, but he just couldn’t see it.

He burrowed closer to Peter, who let out a low growl in his sleep but didn’t wake up. It was probably the first time he ever saw Peter sleep. He usually woke up before Stiles. Well, if he hadn’t slept since Stiles had left… Stiles wondered a bit about that. He had read somewhere that you would go mad without sleep, but Peter said he didn’t need it. Surely that couldn’t be right? Even if he didn’t get fatigued, sleep did more than just made you not tired. Peter’s whole existence seemed kind of awful. Not getting to eat, didn’t need sleep and couldn’t feel anything except in wolf form. And even then mostly just Stiles. He hoped there would be a solution to get Peter out of his mess, because it could not be healthy in the long run. Even if Stiles kind of liked being Peter’s pack, he knew he wouldn’t be enough. And they would probably move in the fall.

He didn’t want to move, but the doctors wanted his mom to be in a clinical study that would start in about a month. And it was not feasible to drive back and forth in the long run. But moving…  And they could only hope that it would give her a few extra years. A few! Stiles wanted to rage against the prognosis. They thought at most fifteen years, and the symptoms would be severe for most of them. Stiles would be lucky if his mom was alive to see him finish high school. Not that they had really discussed what they were going to do. Well, the doctors gave them a whole lot of information, but as a family they hadn’t really talked yet. Not about the future.

Stiles looked at Peter again, it had to be because of him he had been able to sleep. Suddenly Stiles felt hot angry tears rise, it was not fair! It was not fair to discover that there was magic and at the same time get to know his mother was dying. It was not fair that Peter had been able to be sent back, but couldn’t actually do anything. It was absolutely not fair that Stiles would be powerful in the future but completely unable to do anything right now. And Stiles didn’t even know what Peter was here to do! Was it worse than his mother dying? How could anything be worse? It was his mom! Why hadn’t future Stiles done more?! Stupid future, stupid magic!

Stiles could not stay in bed any longer, he got up, trying not to startle Peter, but probably not enough to not wake him. He didn’t care. He wanted to scream at the world but that would be childish. So instead he went to the bathroom. Maybe a shower would help. Or at least wake up his parents. He didn’t want to seem needy, he had been clingy enough the day before. But if they woke up because of the running water… Well nobody could fault him for wanting to be clean. And if he cried in the shower… That would be nobody’s business but his own.

 


	52. Chapter 52

The day improved somewhat after the shower. He was sure some of the credit was due to the full night’s sleep. He had learned that he had an easier time when he slept well, even if he was kind of bad at remembering it when he should go to sleep. All too often getting sucked into a book or comic or something. It also helped that Peter had got up, but decided to stay a wolf. Stiles was not sure why it was better that Peter was a wolf, but somehow it helped ease his anger, he didn’t feel the need to demand the answers he wasn’t sure he actually wanted when Peter couldn’t talk to him anyway.

Stiles knew of course that Peter would shift is he asked it of him, but he barely kept it together, and he wouldn’t add to his parents worries by breaking down now. He even managed to be somewhat himself during breakfast, talking about inconsequential things, like comics and Star Wars and how there were video games based on the movies. And he really wanted to play some. It worked somehow. His parents relaxed, letting his talking wash over them. He wasn’t really concerned about making them talk back, he was used to be the one who talked most during breakfast. His mom was not really a morning person, and his dad was not the most talkative person in the world in the first place.

As he got his feeling more under control, it seemed like there was something to the saying fake till you make it, Peter changed to human. They were in the living room, Stiles fiddling with a Rubik’s cube, waiting for his parents to get done putting the breakfast away.

“Do you want to talk about it? I may not be able to do much, but I am capable of listening.” Peter sounded regretful, like he wanted to offer more but couldn’t.

“Do you know of a way to save her?” It was the only question that mattered, but Stiles didn’t dare to hope. Peter looked too sad for there to be an easy fix.

“Have I told you about how humans can become werewolves?” Peter asked in a low voice.

“Not really, but I guess it’s like in the stories? A werewolf bites you, and wham! You got a new wolf.” Stiles got a feeling for where this was heading, maybe werewolves had super healing or something, on top of the whole shifting magic.

“Well, it’s a bit more limited than that. Only an alpha can change someone, bet you are right, they do it with a bite.” Peter gaze was far away. “It doesn’t always work though, the bite can be rejected… It’s usually best if the bitten is young and healthy, but that is not a guarantee. And I have also seen people with debilitating injuries be saved by the bite. For a while I thought that if you wanted to be a wolf you had a higher chance of making it, but then I have seen people who absolutely abhorred werewolves survive it… So…”

“What happens if you reject the bite?”

“Usually you die. I have seen one exception, but I have no idea how he managed.”

“So, the bite could cure mom, I guess werewolves don’t get sick…? But it could also kill her… Why would anybody healthy risk death to become a werewolf?” Stiles couldn’t understand it, sure if you were dying anyway, but if you weren’t? Why would anybody risk their life just to be able to turn wolf?

“There are perks.” Peter smiled a little. “We don’t get sick, heal faster and are exceptionally strong and fast. And we hear better, have a heighten sense of smell and can see in the dark.”

Well, if you put it like that… But worth dying for? “How good are my mom’s chances?”

“I’m not sure. She is older than recommended, and ill. But it could work.” Peter didn’t look like he had high hoped though, but before Stiles had a chance to ask anything more his mom walked into the room.

“Have Peter told you about the bite?” His mom had obviously heard some of what Stiles had said, but he could not get a feel for what she thought about it. She looked blank. She sat down next to him.

“Yeah… It sounds risky.” He hated that they needed to think about it. That it probably was the best option, but it was so… What if she died?

“Talia offered when we talked to them last week. After she told us about what Peter had written to them…” His mom took his hands in hers. “But baby, I don’t think I can do it. Not right away at least. The doctors think I will have at least half a year before any symptoms show up, and how could I risk leaving you and your dad when I still have time?”

Stiles threw himself into her arms, “but… Peter said it is better if you are healthy, isn’t it better the earlier you try?” He felt his eyes tear up, he had wanted an easy fix, and he was almost relieved that his mom didn’t want to take the chance.

“Even young and healthy people have died of the bite. I have talked a bit about it with Peter, I think I will wait. I will absolutely think about taking the bite later, but for now… Right now I want to make as much of the time I have with you as I can. I want to take you to Poland at least once so you can get to see where I grew up as a child. I want to learn how an engine works because that is something I have always wanted but never really gotten time for. There are a lot of things I want to do, and I will at least get to do some of them. If I take the bite and reject it I would potentially lose years. I am not ready to leave you Mieczyslaw, the bite is too high a risk.” She held him fiercely, Stiles pressed himself closer. He though he heard a relieved sigh from Peter, but was not sure.

“Do we have to move to San Francisco?”

His mom laughed, the sound making the hard knot in Stiles’ chest unwind a little. “Oh honey, not for a while. I will need to spend some days there, but we will be able to stay in Beacon Hills at least for this year. It will depend on how everything progresses, but right now nothing will change. You will go to the same school, I will keep working at the library and your dad will probably work too hard as usual.”

They sat quiet for a while, and then she started talking again.

“The thing about illnesses like these… You can’t stop living your life, on the contrary, you need to live it for real. I want you to know that I love you, I will always love you and nothing that happens can ever change that. And you are an amazing kid, and this is not your fault.”

Stiles started to cry for real, his earlier promise of keeping it together forgotten.

“But I sent Peter back! I knew what will happen to you and I sent him back without a cure for you!”

“Hey, that has not happened yet. And it will probably never happen. I don’t really understand time travel, but since Peter have been able to change things that future will not be. And you have no responsibility for what that future Stiles did and didn’t do. And that future Stiles sent Peter back, and Peter told us about my illness. Maybe that was all future Stiles could do. Don’t fault yourself for something that you could not help. You are my kid, you are this incredible, courageous sweet person who accepted that magic was real and did your best to help a man who needed it without asking for anything in return. And if you grow up to be a powerful magician, then you will be able to do amazing magical stuff. But even if you don’t, even if you end up with a blue collar job and as much magic as, I don’t know, Mrs. M, I will still love you. I will always love you, I promise.”

Stiles sniffled, “Mrs. M makes magical cookies, I would be so lucky if I could be as good as she is in the kitchen.”

His mom laughed at that, and everything felt a bit lighter. He looked up from her embrace and saw that Peter had left the room at some point. He felt a small pang of gratitude, he appreciated that Peter had left them some privacy.

“Now, I know you promised to talk to Scott, and I think it would be good for you to at least spend some time with someone your own age. You can decide how much you want to tell him, but I will talk to Melissa about my illness, so she will be able to answer any of his questions about that. And if you want to tell him about magic and werewolves and Peter, then do, you should not be forced to keep secrets that big. But maybe don’t tell him about the Hales, after all, there is a difference to tell him your secrets and theirs.”

Stiles nodded and felt relieved, he had wanted to tell Scott since the beginning and it felt good to get permission. But he decided to ask Peter if he could tell Scott about him specifically, because that was Peter’s secret after all.


	53. Chapter 53

Peter was relieved, he wouldn’t have to face Stiles if the bite went wrong. He had left the room after Claudia told Stiles she would wait, he had felt more and more like an intruder and as soon as he got to know her decision he gave them their privacy. And now he could only feel relief. He knew it was selfish, but instead of a deadline of about a month he had until he was forced to face himself to make certain that his family would survive. He already felt reasonable sure that they would manage better this time, but he wanted better. He wanted to know that Gerard and Kate were dead and gone. They deserved it. And this time he would make certain that none of them came back from the dead. He was sure that burning them to ashes would be sufficient.

He pondered the dream he had managed to push aside for Stiles’ sake. The connection to the younger Peter was still not as good as it had been in the beginning, but some things hade came through. The man’s life was wobbling on him. His utter trust in Talia had gotten a turn with Derek’s confession about Malia, and he really, really didn’t want Peter’s memories. Peter could relate, well, it was him after all, of course he could relate to his young self, but he didn’t always want his memories either. So he would try to open communications with the younger man, and bargain that if he made sure Gerard and Kate died, Peter would let Deaton banish him.

He was sort of getting tired of this existence. It had been made clearer just how dreadful it was being isolated like this when Stiles left. And he would not be able to spend as much time with Stiles that he probably needed to keep the loneliness and desperation at bay. It was sad really, he had managed for years without anyone but as soon as he had a bond he hated being alone. And he hated that he couldn’t do anything. Maybe he should make young Peter promise to look after the boy and his parents. He wanted them to be a part of the pack. He wanted Stiles to have more people than just his parents and the McCalls. And getting rid of Gerard and Kate would not really be something he needed to convince the other him of doing. So maybe Stiles could be Peter’s payment for letting go.

“Hey… Can I ask you something?” Peter was awakened from his musings by Stiles, who had gotten into the room without him noticing. He sat up, and looked the boy over. He looked okay, and the bond was sort of neutral. A bit nervous, but that was not unusual, but at least not angry or devastatingly sad.

“Of course.”

“Can I tell Scott about you? I know you didn’t really want me to earlier, but I hate keeping secrets from him. I promise not to tell him about your family, I don’t know them anyway, but I really, really want to tell him about you. Because you came here, and you have helped me, and…” His voice broke, and he looked pleadingly at Peter.

“Okay.” Peter felt like it was inevitable anyway, Stiles had always been fiercely loyal to Scott, often more than the other boy deserved. But maybe Stiles saw something in him Peter didn’t.

“Okay? Just like that? But, you said…?” Stiles looked like he couldn’t believe it had been so easy. Peter was kind of sad for that reaction. It had been only two weeks and Stiles had already lost some of his belief that the world was a good place where good things happened.

“Yes, if you think he can keep secret, then tell him. I trust you know how to handle him better than me.” Peter smiled at Stiles, that had always been true. Peter’s dealings with Scott had always left a sour taste in his mouth. But Stiles had kept going back to him, no matter what happened between them.

“Thank you!” Stiles beamed at him, his happiness high and bright through the bond. “Do you want to come with to Scott? I’m not sure how fun it would be for you, but if you want to you can come.”

“I think I pass, you will feel more comfortable without me there. But I will stay here, and if you need me you can get your parents to tell me, and then I will come.” He wanted to say he would come if Stiles felt desperate or anguished, but since he would probably tell Scott about his mother those feelings would be there regardless if Stiles needed him or not. So the roundabout way it was.

“Okay, I will see you tonight then.” Stiles gave him a big smile and left.

Peter laid down again. He wondered if Noah and Claudia would be open to talk to the other Peter for him. At least Claudia would not have any misgivings about putting Gerard and Kate down. She had been furious about how they had made Scott, and with him, Stiles’ lives miserable. And if killing two absolute monsters would save Stiles from the possibility of being possessed… Peter was fairly certain she would kill them herself. Noah would be harder, but maybe he would agree. Or at least let it pass. Because is moral code was nearly as high as Scott’s, but he had a better sense of the reality of the world. And in the real world the good guys didn’t always win. But maybe it was better to start with Claudia. But he would give her a few days. After all, she had some things to process at the moment.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I need to tag this as suicidal? I'm torn, I don’t want too specific tags because spoilers. And to me there is a difference between actively wanting to die, and just not really being interested in being alive any more. But if somebody thinks this can be triggering, please let me know.


	54. Chapter 54

The weekend got better for Peter. He was more at ease with Stiles at least in the same town, and he managed to relax. And when Stiles got back from Scott he could see how a lot of tension had vanished from the kid. He didn’t ask about it, letting him decide for himself how much he wanted to talk. But he relished in the feeling of ease from Stiles, and when they slept that night Peter dreamt of pack and the forest.

Sunday followed suit, but this time they sat down and tried to make a plan to make through the next week. Both Stiles parents had decided to continue work as usual, because they needed normalcy. But they also wanted to set up a meeting with Talia, both realizing that even if Claudia didn’t want to become a werewolf at present, it would still not hurt to befriend the Hales. Peter agreed that they could share his story, but asked them not to let his family read it. Instead he wished that they would keep their judgment on how much to tell, and he asked that they would keep some of his more questionable life choices to themselves. There was no use condemning the younger Peter to more scrutiny than necessary. After all, ha hadn’t done anything yet. And Peter wanted to keep it that way.

To achieve this Peter had started on a letter to himself. It was mostly an edited version of what he had already written to Noah and Claudia, but he held back a bit on his suffering. He told enough to explain his behavior, but did not go into too much detail. Noah and Claudia had more or less demanded details of him, and he had indulged them, needing them to let him stay, but the other Peter didn’t need to know. He probably didn’t want to know. But he would want to know what to avoid. And most importantly, he needed to know everything Peter knew about Gerard and Kate. And Peter knew a lot, even if most of it would probably not come to pass. It would at least make it easier to validate killing them. And probably give some insight on how they think.

He also spent a lot of time writing about Malia. He didn’t have any memories about her, or her mother, before meeting her when she was already grown. But he had done his research. So he wrote down the facts. Like when she was born, who adopted her, and how her birthmother wanted to kill her. And that Talia probably had taken his memories because she wanted to protect the girl. Peter was conflicted about that. He could sort of understand it, he had been only seventeen when Malia was born and way too young to be a father. But take his memories so completely? He didn’t even know if he had known about there being a baby. And how the hell had Talia found out? Maybe Corinne had come to him and then he had gone to his alpha in a panic? But why did she keep the baby if she only wanted to kill her later? It didn’t make sense. Ha was also a bit miffed at losing his memories about the Desert Wolf. Because damn if he wasn’t impressed with his younger self for landing her, even for only a night. Sure, she would have been too old for him, but he had never been the innocent snowflake Derek was, he was fairly certain that he had not been manipulated by something as simple as sex.

He didn’t write too much about his speculations, only urging the younger man to give Talia the benefit of the doubt, but insist on getting answers. And make sure that Malia was safe. Even if Corinne was a remarkable woman, it was not right killing your own child, and especially not a child of Peters. So she needed to be dealt with, but for her Peter would be satisfied with putting her in jail. After all, she was a wanted criminal, and had lost most of her powers. The human justice system could handle her, they just needed some help getting a hold of her first.

He asked Claudia to get an address for him to send the letter. He knew he could let his family handle it, but he didn’t want them to fall for temptation and read it. And he was certain it would be possible to arrange for the younger Peter to stay in one place for some time to get a letter. He would probably spend a few weeks in France anyway so that would not be an issue.

Both Claudia and Noah had again asked if he didn’t want to come, but Peter couldn’t stomach seeing his family when they would know without a doubt that he was there. And now Laura was home, it was really hard seeing her. He still felt betrayed by her. He had not told himself about how Laura and Derek had abandoned him, and he had not told about how he had killed her. He had asked the Stilinskis to keep it to themselves too. Because the reveal of their mutual betrayal would do more harm than good. And Peter wanted himself to get to keep his family. To get to bridge the gap that he had managed to create just by coming back in time. Because otherwise, what was the point? If he managed to save his family but at the cost of losing them for his younger self? He wasn’t selfless enough to think that outcome was worth his life. No, he wanted at least one version of him to end up happy. And he needed his pack for that.

It took Peter several days and a lot of tries before getting the letter exactly how he wanted it. But he managed before the meeting with the Hales. He entrusted it to Claudia, making her promise not to let anyone read it and get an address to send it to. She promised, even with all her own worries she still managed to care for others, for Peter. It was really humbling, and she had only ever seen his words. Peter could see where Stiles had got his fierce loyalty from, both of them cared with all their beings about the people they had deemed important. And somehow Peter had managed to become one of them. He hoped that loyalty would be able to be transferred to the other Peter. Maybe with a little bit of help from him it would be doable. It was at least something to try. Something a little less gruesome to achieve before his time was up.


	55. Chapter 55

When Peter got down to the lobby there was a package waiting for him. Finally. Instead of leaving for coffee, his original intent, he took the package and returned to his room. He had waited three days for this, well, he had waited for a letter, but he was certain it would be included. His name was written in Talia’s distinctive handwriting after all.

He put the package down on the bed. It was of a kind of small, and Peter let no time pass before tearing down on it. Mainly he wanted the letter from his future self, but it would be interesting to see what his family had included. The first thing he got to was a note, it was from Talia.

_Dear brother  
I got Alan to make this for you, it’s to ward your dreams from outside influences. I’m sure the future you don’t have any bad intentions towards you, but just in case, use it for me? According to Alan you only need to keep it under your pillow when you sleep. And for heavens sake, put it somewhere safe when you are not in your room. No need to give the maids ideas. _

_Love, Talia_

He looked at the ward, it was made out of silk and fairly thin. Mainly two pieces of cloth sewn together with something in between. The silk was a brilliant yellow, with stitching in green. It didn’t smell at all. He tried to get its scent. Nothing, not even traces of whoever had handled it. He eyed it suspiciously, for it to smell of absolutely nothing it had to be some crafty magic. He was actually surprised that Deaton had managed, he didn’t really work with wards usually. Well, it would surely not do any harm, Alan would never go against Talia, and his sister was nothing if not overprotective. He scowled at that thought, he was still mad at her. He hadn’t told her he knew about Malia yet, he wanted to ask her about it face to face. But the mere thought that his sisters had taken his memories, it was infuriating.

He put the note and the ward aside, he wanted the letter. The envelope was thick. No surprise Talia had opted to send it as a package, it weighed more than the ward did. He opened it up, and found a single page and another envelope inside. Intrigued he looked the page over.

_Hello Peter  
You do not know me, but I sort of know you. My name is Claudia Stilinski, I am the mother of the boy who can see the other you. I have sort of gotten to know him. I can’t see him, but he writes to us. I think he is lonely, it must be, only being able to really talk to and eight year old. _

_Anyhow, he gave this letter for me to get to you, and I just wanted to ask that you do not judge him too harshly.  He has done some horrible things. But he has been really good to my boy, and nothing but honest with me and my husband. Well, I think so at least. It’s hard to ascertain someone’s honesty only from written words. But my kid trusts him, and even if he is young, he has good instincts._

_As someone who has just been ruthlessly made aware of one’s mortality, I feel like our Peter has a limited set of goals. After he has achieved them, I don’t think he thinks he has anything to live for after that. And I think his current existence has started to tear at him._

_Would you please come visit when you get back?_

_I hope Europe treats you well, and that you find the answers you seek._

_With the highest regards.  
Claudia_

After her signature Claudia had written their address, number and email.

He was oddly touched by the letter, somehow a woman who had never met him, had cared enough to try and put his mind at ease. He had already decided to try and contact the boy who could talk to the future him, but this was probably even better. Because he was not sure how to talk to a little kid. He usually didn’t like kids. Pack was okay, but outside of family, he shuddered. No.

Finally he got to his prize. He opened the envelope, it was filled with numerous pages of tightly written script. He recognized his own handwriting. It was surreal seeing words clearly written by him without knowing what it said before reading it.

_Peter  
It’s odd writing to myself, especially when it’s to my much younger self. I still remember the travels through Europe, I think it was some of the best times of my life. And those travels kept me alive after everything, it’s kind of fascinating. I would never have believed in a mostly sane omega before I turned one myself. It probably helped that I had gone through a stint of feral madness, I was not keen to fall so low again, but it was the simple things like having new places to see that kept me going. I’m sorry I turned one of my happiest memories sour on you. But I really don’t want you to go through what I did, so I think it is worth it. _

 He then went on and told his story. It was horrifying. And some of the things he had done… Why would he talk Derek into turning his girlfriend? Well, it was not a bad idea, but without talking to Talia? What had he’d been thinking? And then actually arranging it himself, with a grief stricken alpha no less. How the hell had he managed to read that so wrong? And then letting Derek take care of the fallout, he tried to imagine Derek kill anyone, but couldn’t. Well, maybe if he got really angry during a full moon, his control was not always impeccable, but outside of that? Well, that would not happen this time around.

He was also a bit confused on how he had become alpha, because if Laura and Derek had left him to rot in Beacon Hills, surely Derek would have been next in line if Laura died? It probably meant that he had killed her. He tried to imagine that. Well, he could see that happening if they had just left him, and then done nothing to get justice for the pack. He knew he and Laura had never really gotten along, it was probably mostly his fault. But it was only 6 years between them, and when Laura came… He had not handled not being the most adorable in the pack well. Before Laura the only other child close to the pack had been their cousin Angela, and she was human with human parents and didn’t live with them. She had not been competition.

Well, Laura had tried to connect with him when she visited, maybe he should try a bit harder with her when he got home. He was fairly certain that the other him would not have told the pack about him killing her. Not when he seemed adamant that Peter should try and get closer to them.

He was not certain that he could. Because Talia had betrayed him, she had taken his memories of a child. Shit, he had a kid with the Desert Wolf. He had slept with the Desert Wolf! And didn’t remember a thing! How was that fair? How had he even met her? At sixteen not less, why would she even…? Well, sure he had always been beautiful, but Corinne had to be at least ten years older than him. Maybe he had fooled her to think he was older? He had not been well known at sixteen, still in his sisters’ shadow. Not that he had really stepped out from there now either, but now he had his own connections. And the Desert Wolf would have been an excellent addition to them. She would probably be able to handle both Kate and Gerard with no issue for the right price.

He tried to reconcile with the fact that he was a father. He scowled, he was not sure he was ready for that. It did really not fit in with his plans. But the kid had a family, so maybe he could get to know her without needing to take care of her? She sounded kind of amazing. Well, older her at least. Older her that had spent several years stuck as a coyote. He felt strangely protective at that thought. That would not happen either. His kid would not be left forgotten alone in the woods.

Maybe he could arrange for the Desert Wolf to take care of Gerard and Kate and then be prosecuted for their deaths? He liked that thought. But then the hunters would know that somebody had paid to get them killed. That was bad. It would be better if they just disappeared, and Corinne was certainly capable of making that happen. But then she would be free to get to Malia. And he really didn’t want that.

He wondered if he would be able to reason with her, she had kept the baby to begin with after all. She had to have known she was losing her powers to her and still didn’t make an abortion. Maybe it had started too late in the pregnancy? Or had been a surprise when Malia was born? That seemed like a really stupid thing for a supernatural being, to lose their powers when they just got a child. How was that a good thing for anybody? He was really glad he was a werewolf, and a man. No baby would steal his powers. He could understand that Corinne wanted her powers back, but she would not get to kill his kid. Even if he never got to know Malia, she would still be his. And he fought for what was his even when they didn’t want it or appreciate it. Somebody had to, because Talia sure as hell would not.

He read through the letter again. Maybe he should get to know Christopher Argent. Try to see how close the man stuck to their precious code. And he would continue to spread rumors about Gerard and Kate, after all, now he had gotten a whole lot more ammunition. And it wouldn’t hurt if the hunter community withdrew its support for the two. Because even if Peter suspected that it was quite common for hunters to break the code, they always wanted to keep up the façade of being the good guys. And that façade would crumble around Gerard and Kate if Peter had anything to do with it. And then nobody would be particularly sorry when they went missing.


	56. Chapter 56

Stiles had had a kind of awesome week. He tried not to think too much about it, because if he acknowledged that some things were good… It felt like a betrayal because his mom was sick. But it was like the family had made a silent agreement on forgetting about it for a while. So instead, they did stuff together. His dad had managed to be shifted to work days only, so they had a lot more time together all three of them. This meant that Stiles had to spend most of his days at the library, because he wanted to be either with his mom or with Scott. Scott had been kind of amazing. Stiles had told him everything. Well, except that the Hales were werewolves. He hadn’t said anything at all about them. But apart from that, everything. And Scott had believed him, unconditionally. And hugged him, and not said anything about him crying. And then respecting that Stiles didn’t want to dwell too much on it at the moment, so instead of asking a lot of questions he had distracted Stiles with games and tales about the odd lady who watched him when Melissa worked and he couldn’t be with Stiles. So things with Scott were good.

And his family had spent the evenings doing stuff together. Mostly small things, like playing games or watching movies. But still together. Stiles had even managed to include Peter in some of the games, it worked surprisingly well with chess. Peter couldn’t move the pieces, but he could tell Stiles to do it for him. They had a tournament, his dad won, but Peter was really close at beating him. Stiles had learned a lot when listening to Peters strategies.

And they had spent the full moon with the Hales. That had been one of the most enthralling experiences in Stiles’ life. Werewolves everywhere, and they had been magnificent. Of course he knew they would be, Peter had already showed him the awesomeness of shifting. But it had been so much more brutal with the normal weres. They didn’t shift in a blink of an eye, instead it had been sort of a process. Stiles hadn’t looked, because naked people. But he had caught glimpses.

He had asked Peter about it later, and he had said that it could be painful to shift, at least when inexperienced. But the full moon helped, and with practices you could do it in only a couple of minutes. But that was one thing that his current existence had made better. But he didn’t think it was worth it. Peter had not gone with them, he had said that he didn’t feel the pull of the moon and to see his family celebrating their bonds when he couldn’t participate was painful.

Stiles had spent the night listening to the wolves running through the woods and getting to know the humans of the pack. He was astonished that he had never heard them before, but Eloise, who was a human daughter to Peter’s other sister, had said it was pack-magic. It kept them hidden from humans who were not included in the pack. When he pointedly had gestured to himself and his parent she had said that they were guests. Like that would explain everything. Peter had later explained that it was sort of a way for packs to introduce potential new members. So the pack-magic allowed them to notice what was happening.

There had only been the people that lived in the house present for this full moon. Eloise had told him that it was not uncommon that they had other packs visiting, but since Stiles and his parents were there this time they had opted to keep it small. Stiles liked Eloise, she was a really calm girl, and she also loved reading. It was a bit hard to find books they both had read, it was quite new for Stiles to read other things than comics after all, but they got into a discussion on which book was best of the Chronicles of Narnia. Stiles was partial to The Horse and His Boy and Eloise preferred The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. They both liked The Magician's Nephew the least. It was fun talking to her. And he liked that she really listened to him even if he was almost ten years younger. Maybe it was a Hale thing. Derek had listened to him too.

So it had been a good week. But now the summer was almost over. He started school again in two weeks. His mom was scheduled for a first appointment a week after that. And the other Peter would get home soon. According to his Peter he would return in the middle of August. He had a job lined up as a criminal defense attorney as a public defender. Stiles was a bit surprised about that, he thought of Peter as more of a prosecutor, and if he would work in defense, shouldn’t he be working with something a little bit more… Prestigious?

Peter had laughed at that, and said he had liked the challenge. And the Hales had a lot of money already, so he didn’t need a high paying job. And it didn’t hurt to get familiar with the system if ever someone in the pack would get in trouble. But he also asked Stiles not to tell the Hales about it, because Peter hadn’t told them about his job before starting. And he didn’t want to ruin the surprise for himself.

Stiles wasn’t sure what would happen when the other Peter got back. His Peter didn’t want to talk about it. But he was starting to get the feeling that his Peter would not stay. And he really hated that idea. Because Stiles liked Peter, and he didn’t want the man to be lonely. And if he went away he would lose the small connection he had been able to make to the world. So he kind of wanted the other Peter to stay away.


	57. Chapter 57

“We can’t just kill them, that would make us no better than they are!” Talia spoke in a low but agitated voice. They had been going it over for ages. Peter had begun to feel desperate. After talking to Stiles he had kind of realized that time had pasted quicker than he wanted. The inevitable confrontation with himself was drawing near, and they had still not decided anything. And he no longer dreamt about what was happening in the other Peters life. He had no idea what he was doing and had been forced to try and listening in on his family instead.

And right now he sat in the corner of Talia’s office, listening in on the argument between her and Violet.

“They want to kill us all, our children!” Violet had more trouble keeping her voice down, she had always been quicker to anger.

“But they haven’t yet! And we will make sure they can’t. But not by becoming what they use as an excuse to hunt us. We are a peaceful pack. I will not take us back decades when there are alternatives.”

“What alternatives?! They have worked below the radar for years, in Gerard’s case probably decades! He wants war between werewolves and hunters. I know you have never liked him. Why can’t you see that he deserves to die?!”

“Because we will get the whole hunter community after us if we kill them. I’m not even sure we would get away with killing them in self defense. There will always be one hunter out there that will use any justification they can to come after us. Killing them will not solve anything.”

“Not if they are never found.” Violet said that in a menacing voice. Talia huffed.

“And who would accomplish that? You? You barely like to hunt rabbits. Or do you plan to let Peter do it? God knows that the boy would do it in a heartbeat. But what kind of life would he get if he starts killing?”

“He would get a life with us! And I am sure not being burned alive and then abandoned by your children would be a vast improvement too!”

Talia flinched at that, and Violet looked kind of apologetic for a second.

“We will not burn.” Talia said determined. “I have already hired people to come and install the best sprinkler system on the market. And I think we should get an alarm. We have been too dependent on our senses, some technology would not hurt.”

“You will let strangers into our home?! After knowing that in two years people will come and burn us?! How can you be so trusting?” Violet seemed outraged, Peter kind of agreed.

“Do you really thing they have already started planning? I am fairly certain the idea will form if they succeed in ambushing Deucalion. And for that to happen they need to kill Ennis’ beta. We will not let them. Just because I don’t want to kill them doesn’t mean that I will just let them kill us.”

“So you have talked to Duke, Ennis and Kali? Have you told them about Peter?”

Talia snorted, “like Ennis would not go of the hinges if I even hinted at a threat to his pack. I have only warned him and Kali that there are rumors that Gerard and Kate don’t follow their code. But I have been in more contact with Duke. He has promised to not have peace talks with Gerard. But he liked the idea of arranging a lasting truce with the hunters so he has started to look into finding some who are not homicidal.”

“Well, that is all fine and dandy. What the hell do you plan to do about Gerard and Kate?!”

“Nothing. We will strengthen our defenses. And if the Argents come here and try and hurt us, we will make sure they’ll be caught by the law. It helps that Stilinski knows about us and is on our side.” The last bit was said in a smug voice. Peter huffed at that, like Talia had anything to do with getting him to work with them.

“And how about Peter? I know you can feel his anger, far away as he is. If I can feel it you have to feel it so much stronger.” Violet had calmed down, seemingly getting Talia’s point of view. Peter groaned, letting Gerard and Kate live was a mistake. They had too much money and influence to get caught by the system.

“I will talk to Peter when he gets back. He surely can’t stay away for much longer. He needs us.”

“…Will you tell him about Malia?” Violet sounded unsure, like she was still deciding on what she thought about the whole thing.

“Maybe. I have always planned on telling him eventually. It was a rash decision on my part, but I’m not sure I regret it. You were not here then. You didn’t see him… It was so close that he left with her, he wanted to be like her. I couldn’t let out baby brother run away with a murderer.” Peter looked up at this. He had wanted to go with Corinne? Leave the pack? He tried to remember being sixteen again. He had been in a rebellious stage. His sister newly an alpha, and his parents still strict as ever, even if they had left the reign of the pack to their eldest. It had only made them focus more on Peter. He had resented that.

“But you still let her go, why?”

“She had lost nearly all her powers, and there was no evidence against her. How was I supposed to notify the law that some random animal attacks all over the world was actually a woman? I gave her enough money to retire, and took away her memories of her child. She shouldn’t even know why she had lost so much of her abilities. When I left her she was sure she had gotten caught in a death curse when a job went wrong. She talked about finding something new to do. She liked gardening, it was something she did as a hobby.”

“So you though the notorious Desert Wolf had been reformed by losing most of her powers and would become peaceful?” Violet sounded skeptic. That was naïve even for Talia.

“Well, I didn’t think straight! Mother said that...”

“You took advice from mother?! And she didn’t want to kill her?” Violet interrupted incredulously.

“Mother knew I would never go for that. Not after seeing how it had affected her. This was an acceptable solution. I managed to steer Peter clear of a horrible, empty life. Gave Malia a loving family and Corinne a second chance.”

“But Peter isn’t happy Talia. And he will demand to read everything when he gets back, if the future Peter hasn’t already told him. He probably has.”

Talia sighed. “Yeah, I know. But he got to keep being a teenager. He got to have his small but innocent rebellions against our parents. And he didn’t end up dead in a ditch somewhere when the Desert Wolf had become tired of him. He is still with us. I can’t regret that.”

Peter was kind of sure that if he had gone with Corinne, and she had not had the baby they would probably still been together. She would have formed him into a formidable killer, because he had managed to become one all on his own, and with help from an expert… Nobody would have had a chance against them. But he also thought about a life without pack. With only one other person. It was kind of what he had right now, and it was not enough. Wolves were meant live in groups. He could manage without it, but it wasn’t really living, was it?

“You could have told me.” Violet sounded hurt. “I could have helped. This memory stealing. I don’t like it. It was something our parents did. Not you.”

“You weren’t here Vi. I understand that you needed to have your family away from our parents, but I didn’t have that luxury. And when you got back it was already a done deal. I can’t take it back.”

“It can’t be reversed?”

“I can share my memories of what happened, but I can’t give him back his own. Maybe if I had looked at them, but… I didn’t want to be more intrusive than I had to… I really hated the whole situation. I hadn’t been an alpha for more than a few months. Derek had trouble settling in with school. And this manipulative bitch had come and tried to steal Peter away from us. And she used an innocent baby to do it! A baby that she didn’t intend to let live either, no matter what she told Peter. I had to do something. And I managed to lure her to stay. To give birth to the child with my help. And then it worked out for the best, no killing needed.”

Violet pondered that for a while.

“I still don’t like it. And I think you need to talk to Peter. And at least contemplate killing Gerard. But I need to start dinner. So we will continue this discussion later.” She gave Talia a nod and left the room. Talia slumped back into the chair. She looked drained.

Peter felt his heart ache. He really didn’t like what Talia had done to him, but at least she had done it because she loved him. Even if she had been naïve when thinking that the matter was resolved. But he felt like he could forgive her, and hopefully the other Peter could too. Without needing to go through the trials he had.


	58. Chapter 58

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bad thing with publishing this as I write it, is that I can't change stuff I have already written. I almost made a major change to a side characters background. And damn, it is hard keeping the Hale family contained. But they are not a large family in the show, because if Laura and Derek had other family outside the ones in the house surely they would not have been alone in New York. Maybe they had and it is explained in the show but not in the wikis. Anyhow, some more from ghost Peter.

Peter was at a loss. It was only a week left until the other him would come home. And he hadn’t resolved anything. Even worse was that he had no idea on the other Peter’s mood. Somehow he was completely cut off. And his younger self didn’t seem to be in much contact with his family either. It was disconcerting. Would he stay away? Ditch his job? Heavens knows he didn’t need it. But that would probably ruin his career, and Peter wanted him to have one. His had been caught off before he had managed to make a name for himself. And he had never gone back to it.

His family still argued about Gerard. They had all settled for letting Kate live and make sure she went to prison somehow, but they were divided about Gerard. Talia and Andrew was for letting him live, the repercussions of killing a hunter as renowned as Gerard was too steep to take the chance. Violet, Joseph and Laura didn’t agree. And Peter was fairly certain the other Peter had already started taking steps to get the two hunters removed. That was what he would have done at least. He had never been above planting evidence to get threats to the pack thrown in jail. It wasn’t a great leap to try arranging accidents from that. Well, morally it was, but he would have the skill. And his morals had never been that high.

He had also started to withdraw a bit from Stiles. He hated it, the bond had grown impossibly strong. But he needed to. Because if he didn’t he would have real trouble leaving the boy. And he hated his existence. He hated not being able to feel things for real. He missed eating. Hell, he missed taking a leak. And the only things that soothed him were tied to the boy. He would stick like glue if he could, but that would make Stiles too dependent on him. It would already hurt him when Peter left. And one way or another Peter would have to leave.

It was just… He wasn’t ready yet. Even if he hated most of everything at the moment he didn’t want to go before he was sure that everyone was safe. And sure, the fire would not happen, he was certain of that. Talia had put a whole lot of fail-saves in motion in that regard. She had even started to make plans for a safe-house in a nice neighborhood in Beacon Hills. She argued that it would be harder for hunters to do anything in the middle of a bunch of humans. And if they ever became aware of trouble they could at least make sure the children were safe.

When asked who would live there she had said that she had talked a bit with their cousin Angela. She had just finished college and was not against moving to Beacon Hills, especially if she got a house out of it. It was not a bad plan. Angela sure was a human, but she had lived around packs her whole life so she knew enough even if she hadn’t belonged to a pack for real since her parents had been human. Her mother was a Hale and had grown up among wolves, but she had married a normal human, who had not been keen on the pack dynamics. So they visited often but were never really a part of the pack. She had moved from Beacon Hills when her parents died in a car accident, she was going to college anyway and didn’t feel the need to keep the house when it would only stand empty.

Peter liked the idea of getting Angela to move to them sooner. In his original timeline she would move to them a few months before the fire. He wondered if she had met Emily yet, or if this would change her whole world completely. He didn’t remember how they met, only that they had bonded on being born human into a supernatural world. But Emily’s parents had both been weres so she had been a bit more in the know. But her pack had not been very friendly towards same sex couples, so when they needed a pack for James they had gone to the Hales.

Peter had liked Emily, and James had been a kind of a miracle. Sure, the sperm donor had probably been a were, but it was still unusual for a human woman to give birth to a werewolf. He cursed that he hadn’t asked more questions about Emily’s pack. He knew they were from Texas, but that was a fucking big state. And since they had not been a threat to the pack Peter had not asked too many questions. He had been far more intrigued with James. He was fairly certain that if it had been Andrea who was the mother the child would have been born human, but Emily was only one generation removed from the wolf, so it had been enough. He really wanted them to end up together again.  He hoped they already had.

He felt restless. He wanted some closure damn it, and it didn’t seem like he would get it. A lot of good changes had taken place, but was it enough? And the whole mess with the other Peter. How had he taken the letter? Would it drive a rift between him and the pack? Would he even give Talia a chance? He was sure he would do everything in his power to keep the pack safe, it had been his self obtained job since Talia became alpha after all. But would he want to stay with the pack in the long run? Peter really needed some information about the other him. Maybe he could work with Derek. Derek had told the other Peter about Malia, surely he would be able to talk to him again. It was at least worth a try.

He went to find Stiles. It was such a hassle to get information to the right person, and he needed Stiles for this. Maybe they could set up a meeting, invite Derek over. Talia had made some inquires of talking more directly with Peter, maybe she could settle for letting Derek talk to him. With Stiles present she knew he wouldn’t say anything too upsetting. So she could go for it. It was at least worth a try.


	59. Chapter 59

Stiles was worried about Peter. He had known the man for nearly a month now, and Peter had started to spend a lot less time with him. He said that he needed to keep an eye on his family, but he refused to actually talk to them. It was maddening. Peter needed more people, and his family loved him. Sure, they loved the young him, but surely they would love his Peter too? They were the same person after all, well, sort of at least.

And he looked worse. It was hard to explain, but it was like he was not as real anymore. Well, he had always looked odd, with the faded colors and such. But he had always looked real. And he barely smiled. And he had stopped trying to participate in their evening activities. At the most he looked at some movies, and always as a wolf. Stiles missed him, but wasn’t sure he was allowed. Maybe Peter had grown tired of Stiles but didn’t want to say anything? At least he spent most nights in his room, always a wolf but at least there. He didn’t sleep well when Peter was absent. He didn’t get nightmares per se, but he was never as rested as when Peter curled around him as a wolf, soothing his sleep.

That was a bit scary. Stiles didn’t want to be so dependent on Peter, especially if Peter didn’t want to stay. What if he was only there because he felt like Stiles needed him? Maybe Peter didn’t want to spend time with Stiles at all, but felt obligated since he had sort of turned his life upside down. Stiles didn’t want to be an obligation. He wanted to be a friend. Pack. Peter had called them that, but Stiles didn’t think pack should behave like this.

He had tried talk to his mom about it, and she had listened and been understanding, but told him to give Peter some space if he needed it. Peter had gone through a lot and deserved their support, but they shouldn’t demand more of him than he was able to give. Stiles almost resented that his mother knew Peter better than he did. She couldn’t even see him. Of course he was glad that Peter had someone to talk to, but he hated that it wasn’t him. His whole being itched to find Peters writings and reading them. He was sure he could take it. He knew the world was not a fun happy place all the time, he was the kid of a cop. Sometimes bad people did bad stuff, and it was not always the good people could stop it. But Peter was here to stop the bad thing from happening, so Stiles didn’t understand why he couldn’t know what it was. They told him about his mom after all, and nothing could be worse than his mom being sick. Not to Stiles anyway.

Stiles was fairly certain that something had happened to Peter’s family, probably something deadly. But it had to be something preventable, otherwise he wouldn’t have come back. And now they knew about it, so it should be resolved. Dad knew about it. Surely a bunch of werewolves and a cop could stop whatever had happened. It had to be bad people. Peter had mentioned something about bad people wanting Stiles if they found out he had potential magic. He had never gotten around asking more about that. Maybe there was like a cult of people hating the supernatural. With how much stupid bigotry there was in the normal world it would be odd if not the same things were happening in the supernatural one. Or maybe it had been a rivaling pack wanting their territory. Because that was a thing, right?

He hated not knowing. But he didn’t want to bug Peter, maybe he would stop showing up at all if Stiles got too annoying. Stiles gnawed on his lower lip, feeling insecure. How much of his feelings were Peter feeling? Maybe it was too much, he should try feeling happy. Happy was good, Peter deserved happy. But it was so hard! He just wanted Peter to like him. Stiles was getting more and more upset, he knew he should distract himself with something else, but he couldn’t. He was stuck in a bad loop of insecurity and guilt over said insecurity. He got up from the bed, deciding to find one of his parents, someone to talk to.

Suddenly he felt a warm pressure against his legs. He startled and looked down. It was Peter, the wolf looked up at him and whined. Stiles sank down on his knees and hugged him tight.

“Why don’t you like me anymore? What did I do?” He almost sobbed into the fur. He couldn’t help himself, he needed to know.

Peter pressed close for a moment before untangling himself and shifted to human. He hugged Stiles close, it was not as good as the wolf, but at least it was something.

“Oh, sweet boy. You have done nothing wrong. I’m just feeling tired. I still like you, you are very special to me. But I’m afraid of hurting you.” Peter spoke in a soft voice, calming Stiles down.

“How could you hurt me?” Well, he had sort of hurt him by staying away, but Stiles was sure that was not what Peter meant.

“I don’t know what will happen when this times Peter comes home… There is a chance I won’t be able to stay. And I fear that it will hurt you if I leave, and the closer we get the harder it will be.”

“So instead you let me believe you have grown tired of me?! That hurts too!”

“I’m sorry, but… It’s feels like my time is up soon, and I have tried so hard to get all the information to the right people but I don’t know if it is enough. So I would have been miserable company for you in any case.” Peter sounded apologetic and sad. Stiles borrowed closer. It was a really strange feeling, only pressure with no structure. But he felt like the symbolism of staying close was right.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

“I’m not sure I have a choice. But maybe you can get to know the other Peter too. He will be a bit of an asshole, but I am sure he will like you.” Peter was quiet for a moment. “Well, I am sure he will like you as soon as he get’s over how young you are. He usually does not like kids.”

“So why would he like me? You only like me because I am the only one who sees you.” Stiles was not certain this was true. But it felt like it at the moment. That if Peter had had a choice he would have preferred somebody else, somebody older.

“I have always liked you, first the you from my time, and now this you too.” He paused for a second. “I like you because you are brave, intelligent and funny. You have this amazing curiosity and you have treated me far better than I deserve. When faced with a werewolf you got intrigued instead of scared. I don’t like you just because you can see me. I don’t think I am stuck with you. And if the other Peter gives you a chance he will like you too.”

Stiles sniffled a bit, he wanted to believe Peter, he really did.

“Maybe we can make sure the other Peter gives you a chance? Do you want to try that?”

Stiles backed up a bit and looked at Peter. “How?”

“Well, Peter has been a bit aloof from the family this past week, but I think he would pick up for Derek. Do you think your parents would be alright with inviting him over?”

“You will talk with Derek?” This was huge, Stiles had wanted Peter to talk to somebody from his family since they got to know that he was here.

“Yes I will, if it will make this easier for you I will absolutely talk to Derek. We will make sure the other Peter is alright, and that he knows how important you are. After all, if it wasn’t for you, I would have achieved nothing since I got here.”

“Okay, I will give him a chance.”

Stiles felt better, Peter hadn’t grown tired of him, and he was prepared to speak with his family. For him! He didn’t like that Peter was probably leaving. But he could not really blame him for that, and maybe he should give this other Peter a chance. He would grow up to become his Peter after all, so he had to be a good person.


	60. Chapter 60

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break in updates. Got hit by the stupid apathy bug. But managed to write today at least, and I have an ending in sight.

Peter woke up to the insistent ringing of his phone. He groaned and after a few tries managed to get hold of the offending object. He glared at it, contemplating to just turn the damn thing off. But he felt a stab of panic when he saw the caller ID. What the hell.

“Derek? Has something happened?” His voice was gravely, but he managed to sit up, feeling wide awake.

“Hi uncle Peter… Were you asleep?” The teenager sounded a bit nervous, and there was somebody else there. He could hear the breathing of at least one other person.

“Well yes, it’s well after midnight here you know. Did you forget about the time difference?” Peter knew he sounded cranky, but damn it, he had not slept more than an hour. He was entitled.

“Oh… Sorry about that.” Derek was quiet for a while, and Peter heard the rustling of papers.”Can I talk to you anyway? It’s kind of important.”

“I’m awake now aren’t I? So go ahead. What couldn’t wait a week for me to hear?”

“So you are coming home soon? Awesome! Everything is kind of messed up here, and mom doesn’t want to tell us anything.” Peter hears the quiet sound of somebody clearing their throat, trying to get Derek’s attention.

“Ah, wait one second,” Peter wasn’t sure who Derek was talking to, him or the stranger.

“Could I put you on speaker? There is somebody I want you to talk to.”

“Be my guest, I’m guessing they are the reason you have called?” Because if it had anything to do with the pack, Derek would not be with somebody Peter didn’t know.

“Yeah, you could say that,” there was a fumbling sound, and then the sounds in the room became clearer. It was only Derek and one other person there. The technology was not good enough to give Peter heartbeats, but their breathing came through loud and clear.

“So, I’m here with Stiles, the boy who can see the other you… And well, the other Peter is here as well. It’s he who wants to talk to you, but he didn’t think you would answer to a stranger’s number.”

Peter took a deep breath, willing his heart to slow down. He was tempted to just hang up. He was not ready for this.

“Interesting. Hello Stiles, I hope future me has not been too terrible.” He tried to sound calm, he would not give away his discomfort.

“Hi Peter,” the voice was light, clearly a young boy. Stiles was eight Peter recalled. Way too young to be mixed up in this. “Peter has been awesome! But I think he is getting ill or something.” Derek let out a gasp, it was obviously news to him.

“Hey, none of that. He has a right to know, I will not keep secrets from other Peter, we want him to like me, remember?” Stiles spoke in a hushed voice, obviously talking to his future counterpart.

“What do you mean with him getting ill? I was of the impression that he is some kind of incorporeal being, and werewolf to boot. Surely he would not get sick.” There was a pause, Peter worried that Stiles didn’t understand what he had meant. He was only eight after all.

“…Ah. No. Well, I can sort of feel him. When he is a wolf I can feel him just fine, but when he is a man he is kind of there but not really? Like, I can feel a pressure if I try to touch him, but nothing else. Well, sometimes I can feel temperature too, but not for the last week. And his colors have faded even more than they had in the beginning, and he says that for him the world has grown dimmer too. He thinks he has to go soon.” Stiles voice broke, “I really don’t want him to go. But he can’t stay just for me and he really needs to know what you are thinking. Because he used to dream about you but that has stopped and now he is worried that he has not done what he came here to do and he can’t really do more than give information and he will not talk to me because something terrible was going to happen. Even worse than that my mom… my mom, is really sick, and now Peter is leaving and I don’t… I don’t know how to handle this.” There was a shuffled sound and then Peter was sure he heard what had to be Derek hugging the crying kid. Peter was lost for words. What could he say to that?

“Uncle Peter?” Derek sounded hesitant. “Did you do something so future Peter would not have a connection to you anymore?”

Peter hummed, “I got a ward from Deaton… It supposedly shields my dreams from outside influence.”

“Could you maybe stop using that for a while?” Derek then shifted to Spanish. ”<Future Peter asked me to tell you that he has no interest of taking over your life. He just wants to know that everything will be taken care of.>” His Spanish was halting, but he made himself understood. Peter wasn’t sure what to believe. He would never just give up, but then… Crazy time lady had told him to ask. Maybe she had been right.

“<Does he promise to not give me any of his memories? I really do not want any of his memories.> There is a brief pause.

“<He promise to do his best to make that not happen if you promise to be nice to the kid, and give mom a chance to explain herself.>”

“Well then, I promise to be equally nice to the boy as I am to the rest of the pack. But I’m not really known for being nice.”

“Hey! My Peter is super nice. If he can so can you.” Stiles pipes up, voice muffled by being hugged. There is the sound of a bit of a hustle. “Sorry” The last bit was clearly for Derek, Stiles sounded embarrassed.

“I will try to keep the sarcasm to a minimum, but if you want compliments you well damn need to earn them.” Peter was amused, at least the kid was loyal to one version of him.

“Now, if it wasn’t something else I really want to go back to sleep. I have an early flight to catch tomorrow.”

“Oh, sorry again. When do you get back?” Derek didn’t really sound sorry, but Peter gave him credits for at least saying the words.

“Next Wednesday, but it will be late, so I see you the day after.”

“Okay. See you then uncle. Good night.”

“Bye Derek, Stiles. Don’t do anything foolish until I get back.”

“Bye!” Stiles managed to get out before Peter closed the call.

He laid down again, and then before turning back to sleep he fished the ward out from under his pillow and threw it across the room. He would have faith in the future version of himself. It was against his nature, but just this once he would believe that it would be okay. And if the other Peter needed some closure before going into the afterlife, then Peter would not be the one to deny him. He would have wanted the same after all, even if he really couldn’t see himself giving up like that. Hopefully he never would. And tomorrow he had a plane to catch.

The rumors of a large extended family burning inside their farmhouse close to Cannes had reached him. He was not sure it was a werewolf pack. But the signs where there, the large family, a remote location and the fact that it had happened during the full moon… It screamed of what Kate wanted to do to his family, and Peter was determined to check it out before going home. It was less than a week ago, and Kate was probably long gone. But maybe he could at least make sure that the fire was not deemed an accident. And if she had stayed to make sure there was no lose ends… He grinned, well if she had burned a pack already she hardly was innocent anymore, was she?


	61. Chapter 61

Peter looked at the two boys, staring at each other. Stiles eyes were still red from crying, and he felt raw through the bond. Peter was really glad that Derek had pulled him into a hug when the kid broke down, because Peter had been stunned by that confession. He knew the boy liked him, they had talked about that. But he had not realized the kid would cry over him. It was heartbreaking.

Derek looked kind of uncomfortable, this was not a situation he was used to. Peter knew he had this whole other persona in school. He was one of the popular kids, and if any of his friends had been here Derek would not have shown any mercy for the boy. That would not have been cool.

“Do you think he will stop shield his dreams?” Stiles voice was small, like he wasn’t sure he had the right to ask. Before Peter had a chance to answer Derek spoke.

“Probably. If he can believe that your Peter will keep his promise. Peter has always been a bit selfish, but he isn’t usually cruel to pack. And well, your Peter is kind of a part of him? I think is scares him a bit though.”

Peter stared at him, he had really forgotten that teen Derek had not been allergic to words. He had never been the most talkative of kids, but he was not the brooding silent guy he had become after the whole mess with Paige which had only gotten worse with the fire.

He realized that Stiles looked at him, wanting him to answer too.

“I think he will toss the ward. He has everything to gain to get on my good side after all.” He said, trying to sound reassuring. He was fairly certain he was telling the truth, the past him would do anything to keep being him.

“Why? What could you possibly do to hurt him?”

Peter started to write to Derek at the same time he answered Stiles, he wrote in Spanish, silently impressed by himself for managing two languages at the same time.

“He fear that I will give him my memories.”

_< Please change the subject, Stiles does not need to think about this right now.>_

 He gave the board to Stiles to hand to Derek, who looked at it and frowned.

“What did you write?! Why do you have to write in Spanish? It’s not fair to have secrets when I am right here!” Stiles was upset, momentarily forgetting about what Peter actually said.

“What did you mean when you wanted Peter to give mom a chance?” Derek asked, ignoring Stiles for the moment. Stiles gaped, and then looked intrigued. Probably because it was news to him too.

Peter spoke and wrote at the same time, but now he wrote what he said to placate Stiles need to feel included.

“I told him about our daughter, Malia. Your mom took our memories of her, but I think she had an acceptable excuse. But I didn’t know about it when I wrote to your Peter. So I’m afraid he is angry at Talia and it will hurt their bond in the long run.” Peter was kind of proud of Derek for that question, because now he would have an excuse to know about the whole thing without having to tell his parents that he had read the letter. Very sneaky, Peter approved.

“Your sister stole your memories?! That is so wrong!” Peter gave a reassuring smile to placate Stiles outrage but kept his focus on Derek. The teen clearly struggled with what to say.

“Do you… Do you think my Peter can forgive her? Have you forgiven her?” Derek asked, sounding like he really wanted to know if he could get permission to forgive his mother.

“I do not agree with what she did, I think it could probably been solved in some other way. But I understand where she came from. And she took advice from our mother… And she was not as idealistic as Talia is. I think that it will be good for both your Peter and your mom to talk it out. And I have forgiven her. Of course I have, she is my sister.”

Peter said and wrote at the same time. He had really forgiven Talia as soon as he knew she had done it mostly to protect him. He was sure she would not have taken his memories if he had not been on the brink of leaving. And maybe he should resent her for taking his choice away, but he had been seventeen. No matter how mature he had though he had been, he had needed his pack.

Stiles beamed at him and then looked at Derek. “See, he is really nice. I’m sure your Peter can be too. We just need to teach him it’s allowed.”

Derek laughed. “Sure kid, and then we can get him to actually telling us what he is going to do when he gets back. It drives my mom mad that he has not told anybody.”

“He’s going to be a defense lawyer! Work as a public defender and everything. That can be seen as nice? Right?”

“Stiles…!” Peter growled, he had asked the kid not to tell his family about that, but obviously he had forgotten.

“Oops. That was kind of a secret.” Stiles looked guilty. “Sorry…. But Derek will not tell anyone, right?” He looked hopefully at Derek, who looked stunned.

“Public defender? But I though you would work with mom eventually?”

Peter sighed. “I shifted my focus to criminal justice, and working as a defense attorney is a good way to hone my skills if ever somebody in the pack would need it. And it will give opportunities to get contacts inside of the law enforcement too.” He was quiet for a bit as he finished writing, then continued. “I was actually really good. Especially when I defended somebody innocent. It helps knowing when a client tells the truth or not.”

“Did you ever get somebody guilty free from jail?” Peter couldn’t really read Stiles expression, it was a cross between the thrill of hearing that Peter was that good, and the conviction that it was wrong getting guilty people off the hook.

“Of course, it’s important that everybody gets fair trial. And if the evidence is not enough for a conviction then the defendant should get free. But well… In some more gruesome cases I managed to convince my clients to confess even if they had the possibility to get away with it. And I never defended a hunter. The temptation to take the law in my own hands would have been too high.”

Peter hadn’t had many murder cases, murder had not been common in Beacon county. But he had had his fair deal of assaults and robberies. And he had never felt guilty of getting somebody free, or a lighter sentence than they probably deserved. As a whole he made the society better, because he had noticed that the law enforcement had improved when there had actually been a good public defender. And not only the rich deserved a good defense. He was not sure if he would have stuck it out more than the five years he had planned, it was exhausting work after all. But he hadn’t gotten the chance. Not then, but now… Now the other Peter would do it for him. He would get a reputation for being ruthless in the courtroom, and then he would start his own firm and be his own boss, and probably make a ridiculous amount of money. But maybe take a few pro bono cases too, only because it would look good of course. Not because it had felt fucking fantastic getting innocent people free, basking in their appreciation.

“…Peter, Peter. Peter!” He felt Stiles buffing at him, and startled looked up. He had apparently lost some time.

“Are you alright?” Stiles looked worried.

“Sorry, yes, I’m fine. Got lost a bit in memories there…” Suddenly he felt like he needed to lie down, like everything was a bit much. He had felt more and more tired lately, not sleepy, just. Tired.

“Maybe we could continue this some other time… I feel like I need some time alone. Is that okay?”

Stiles nodded and then ushered Derek out of the room, probably taking him downstairs to the living room. Before Derek left he looked in the general direction of Peter.

“Thank you for today… And thank you for coming back to save us. I’m sorry that you felt like you didn’t really belong.  I will try to fix that with our Peter.”

And then he left, following Stiles.

Peter was stunned. He had not really thought that his family would thank him. Not since giving up the thought of talking to them directly. Maybe it had been a good thing talking to Derek, not only for getting in touch with his younger self.

He laid down on the bed. He would try to sleep, even if it was on the middle of the day. Maybe he would get a better connection if he slept at the same time as the other him. He wasn’t sure if he had managed that before.  


	62. Chapter 62

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two kind of long updates on one day. It's almost like I have gotten my motivation back. Or maybe it's just me avoiding cleaning my mess of an apartment. Maybe a little bit of both.

Peter knew he was dreaming. It was odd, before he had gotten impressions and some thoughts and feelings from the other Peter. He had gotten to see some of the things that had happened to him, but this was so much more. He felt so much more aware, and had to force himself to not reach out, to not try and connect for real. Because he felt like it would be possible, like he would actually be able to talk to the other him. But he was not sure of the cost. And he didn’t want to risk giving the other Peter more than he wanted. And he didn’t believe that what he saw and felt was a dream for the other man either. Because it was too clear and in the right order and everything that dreams were not.

He saw how Peter had been a busy, busy man since he had learned about the packs possible future. He had travelled around, meeting people, spreading rumors around. More direct around the shifter community, but he had managed to get a few hunters to question the integrity of Gerard and Kate. Ha had stayed mostly in France, well, except for his trip to Scotland, and hadn’t that discussion been intriguing? And he had especially visited cities with a high Argent presence. He had not managed to get any information on where Gerard or Kate would be, and neither had he managed to find Chris. But he had started a really good foundation of undermining the pair, and also managed to warn others about them. Peter could feel the man’s satisfaction, it was almost better than finding secrets. Who was he kidding, spreading rumors and undermining the enemy was way better. It was the thought of what was waiting for the other man when he got back to Beacon Hills that made the man’s days sour.

But that had gotten better after he had started to ward his dreams. Peter was kind of annoyed that his misery of not knowing what was going on had been the other Peters feeling of security of keeping him away. He couldn’t really fault him for that either, well except for the fact that he had accepted a ward from Deaton without suspicion. That rankled a bit because they had never gotten along. Peter too keen to find out secrets and Deaton adamant of keeping them. But maybe it was just that he trusted Talia, and that was a good thing. And his smear campaign had gotten better with Peters information. And now he had gotten hold of his first real clue of where Kate could be, or at least had been. A burnt down farmhouse. This was good. Well, it was bad that a pack had died. But it was good that young Peter was going there. Peter hoped Kate would still be there. He hoped that she had not managed to streamline the process yet, and that she needed to be there to make sure that the investigation concluded that it was an accident. Because if she was there his counterpart would find her. And at the very least he would be able to make sure that the fire was deemed arson. That couldn’t be too hard, Kate didn’t know about the good accelerant yet after all. That she needed Harris for.

“Peter.” He startled awake, finding Stiles poking him in his side, looking both annoyed and apologetic.

“Stiles.”He managed to sit up, feeling groggy. It was late, he looked at the boy, who was prepared for going to bed.

“Sorry, I didn’t really mean to sleep for so long. Did you have a good time with Derek?” He made room for the boy, and sat at the end of the bed.

“Yeah. He is really cool. He’s gonna try out for the basketball team when school starts. They don’t take in many freshmen, but he thinks he is good enough. And with his wolfy powers he is probably right. He’s a bit nervous about keeping it down, but he thinks he will manage. Do you know if it will be okay? He will not wolf out in school and betray your secrets?”

Peter chuckled. “He will be fine, he had some control issues in my time, but only during the full moon and only it only got a bit unmanageable after some bad stuff happened. Bad stuff that will not happen this time, so maybe don’t mention that part to him. He is smarter than he gets credit for and I don’t want him to be nervous about something that I have already made sure will be stopped.”

Again Peter said too much, he it would have been better if he had only reassured Stiles Derek would be okay, but he couldn’t stop himself. It was a good thing his times was starting to run out. Otherwise he would confess the whole traumatizing story to the kid and he didn’t deserve that.

“Good. I think I like Derek. But I don’t think he will want to hang out with me among others than family. It’s not really cool knowing me after all, and I don’t want to ruin his reputation.” Stiles looked a bit forlorn, but didn’t feel overly sad.

“I think you are right, but if you don’t force the issue, and give him a few years I’m sure you will be good friends anyway. You were friends in my time after all. And you had a lot more against that friendship then than you have now. And as soon as you have grown up the age difference will mean nothing. It only matters now because you have vastly different priorities and interests. After all, Derek mainly wants to impress his friends and the pretty girls in school. That is not really your style.”

Stiles wrinkled his nose. “You make him seem shallow, there is more to Derek than that. And I like to impress Scott. It’s not really hard, but I like it anyway.”

Peter smiled at him. “Of course there is more to him, but not really when he is in public.”

“Hmm, maybe. It doesn’t matter anyway, He’s going to BHHS and it is years before I start there. He will probably be finished way before then anyway. At least if he is not secretly stupid, and you said he was clever.”

“You are absolutely right, and you can get to know him as you get to know the pack. And he did come here after all. So he has to like you a bit already.”

“I will get to know the pack? Like go to more full moon gatherings?” Peter could feel Stiles’ excitement through the bond.

“Sure. They will want you to become part of the pack I am sure. Mainly because your dad is working for the Sheriff Department, but you are a potential promising spark. If you don’t look out Talia will make you train to be the next emissary.” At least Peter hoped she would. He would be surprised if she didn’t.

“What’s an emissary?” Stiles said around a yawn.

“It’s a human who helps the pack, usually with magic abilities. The current one is a druid. He is young so you don’t have to worry about it for a whole lot of years. But maybe it is time for you to sleep. It’s getting quite late.”

Stiles looks like he’s about to protest, then yawns again and nods. “Okay… Good night Peter.”

“Good night” Peter smiled fondly at the boy and then shifts to his wolf. He is glad that the day has been good one. And that Stiles and Derek are getting along. He hopes the whole pack will take to Stiles as much, because the kid deserves them. He snuggles close to the boy who slings an arm around him and then promptly falls asleep.

Peter lays awake for a while. It has been a good day. And hopefully at least one of the Argents will be taken care of before he has to leave. He thinks he can be content with that. Even if Gerard is the bigger threat, Kate is the more satisfactory one. And she is as good as dead if she is still hanging around Cannes. He hopes the other Peter doesn’t make it look like an animal attack. Even if it was really satisfying to claw her throat out it would be better if he makes it look like a suicide. Best case scenario with a written confession. That would be sweet.

He falls asleep thinking on different ways of killing Kate. But when he dreams, he dreams about the forest and running with pack. It has been a good day.


	63. Chapter 63

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short interlude from Stiles. Next up a whole lot of Peter. It will probably get violent.

Stiles stared at the roof. He couldn’t sleep. He started third grade tomorrow, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He kind of liked school, it was fun learning new stuff, and he could concentrate enough after he had started with Adderall. It could still be hard if the subject was boring, or too easy but he managed. And Scott helped too, because Stiles thought better when he talked and Scott was amazing at listening. So normally school would be fine. But so much had changed during the summer. He wasn’t sure he thought school was important anymore.

His mom was important, and school meant that he would spend less time with her. And Peter… Peter would leave soon. He wasn’t sure where the werewolf was at the moment, probably with his family, but he missed him. But he was adamant that he would not burden the man more than necessary. He was sure he would be able to sleep, if he just managed to fall asleep in the first place. His anxiety over his mom’s illness had lessened somewhat, because she was just like she always had been. Nothing had changed yet, so he managed to push that future out of his mind. His mom was fine, and here and he really wanted to spend as much time with her as he possibly could.

He had asked if he could get homeschooled for a year, he could study at the library with his mothers help. But his parents had said that it was important for him to spend time with kids his age. He had scoffed at that, he had Scott that was enough. But they had been adamant that they would have as normal a life as possible for as long as possible. So school it was.

Stiles wondered idly if Cora went to the same school, or did she go to school at all? He hadn’t really talked to her, she was not especially outgoing. Peter said that it was only because she didn’t know him yet. He should have asked about how school worked for werewolves, either from Derek or Peter. He had not thought about it, well, he could do that later. Cora didn’t go to his class at least, he thought she was a year younger than him but was not sure. And he didn’t really pay attention to the kids outside his class, he didn’t need more friends than Scott after all.

Maybe he should? It had been fun talking to Derek. Maybe he could have more friends. Well, he and Scott, he would not abandon his bestie. Well, he didn’t have a clue how to befriend new people, because his approach of just starting talking had only worked on Scott so far. And maybe it had only worked because Scott had been shunned for his asthma, but Stiles didn’t care. Scott liked him and that was all that mattered.

He needed to do something nice for Scott, he had been awesome about everything. Even understood that Stiles didn’t have as much time as usual for him. But he wasn’t sure what he could do. Maybe invite him over more? And after Peter left… He didn’t want Peter to leave. But it seemed like there was no stopping it. And Peter didn’t seem to care, sure, he was regretful of leaving Stiles but it wasn’t enough. And he seemed less and less alive for each new day. Stiles suspected that Peter actually was dying, that he wouldn’t just leave Beacon Hills but vanish from existence. He didn’t ask, because he didn’t want to know. It was easier to believe that Peter would just go somewhere else. Like to a farm or something. He sniggered at that stupidly inappropriate thought.

Or maybe he could be reunited with his people, the ones that he had left behind in the future. He had said he couldn’t go back, because that future didn’t exist anymore. But if they didn’t exist, and Peter would cease to exist then why couldn’t they not exist together? Yes, that is what would happen. Peter would be reunited with future Stiles and they would keep each other company. He felt satisfied with that solution, even if it wasn’t true. Maybe if he believed it enough? Everything he had managed to help Peter with so far had been with his belief. So he would believe with all his conviction that Peter would not end up alone. Because Peter had been alone far too much.

And maybe Stiles would try and get some more friends. Scott wouldn’t hurt getting more friends either, after all, Stiles’ mom needed him. So he would work on getting them new friends, maybe from another class. It couldn’t be impossible, he did have other friends in preschool. But it had been easier then, nobody had forced him to sit still more than he wanted. But he had been on Adderall for over a year now, maybe the rest of the class would have forgotten how antsy he had been before? He would give them one chance. There had to be some other person in their class that was worthy of their awesomeness. After all, he was magic now.

Stiles drifted off to sleep. His last thoughts were about Peter and how he hoped the man would be okay.


	64. Chapter 64

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, not so violent this time. I may even skip the violent bits. Will see if I manage to actually write action or not. It didn't happen in this chapter in any case. 
> 
> I have also finished the epilogue. So I have the ending planned. Not everything will be resolved, because to do that I would have to write like 60 chapters more. But I will finish Peter's story, he is the main character after all.

Peter followed the man at a distance. He was young and looked like a vagabond that spent most of his time on the beach. He smelt of drugs and alcohol, and Peter didn’t know where he was from but it was not from France. His French was horrible, and his English was not much better. He was pretty thought, and knew how to use his looks to get attention from rich bored women. Peter was pretty sure he was hustling them, but he didn’t care about that. He cared about the hint of toxic fire he could smell from his clothes. The hint of wolfsbane and mountain ash. Not enough that he would have used it much himself, and if Peter hadn’t been searching for just those scents he would never have registered. But Peter was on the hunt, and this man had been near a fire not long ago. At least his clothes had been.

Peter hoped he still had contact with Kate, because he was fairly certain that the man had met her. He had bragged intensely about the beautiful American who was really intense that he was sleeping with. This was of course not to the cougars, he was careful about looking innocent and available for them, but to his drinking buddies. And according to his information it was like Kate to use pretty boys to get what she wanted. Not afraid of mixing pleasure with business that one.

He had followed the man for two days now. And finally he was going somewhere other than his usual places for sweet talking housewives to give him food and alcohol. He was sure the man was smarter than he made himself out to be, but man, he was insufferable. And closing in on a small hotel, close to the ocean. It looked cozy, not someplace he would think a murderous bitch would like to live. Maybe it was one of his sugar mamas, but he didn’t look like he was going to one of them.

He risked getting a bit closer, the hotel was surrounded by trees and blooming bushes. It was kind of private but still in the city. The man went to the back of the hotel, into the garden. Peter frowned, he couldn’t follow without being seen. He hesitated, he didn’t want to go inside, maybe there was a way around? It was all small alleys and back streets out here. It looked like an old part of the city. He eyed the houses closest to the hotel, most of them was brick buildings four or five stories high. The hotel was significantly lower with its three stories and was built in wood. It didn’t fit in but at the same time fit in beautifully. As he worked his way around he saw a building that had a roof terrace. Maybe he could work his way up there. It looked like he would get a view over the garden from there. It would maybe even be close enough to hear something.

He took his time, he didn’t want to get caught after all, and he managed to get up on the roof unseen. Fire escapes were fucking handy when you wanted to get somewhere. The roof was empty, probably because it was in the middle of the day and really too hot laze around in the sun without water close by. He made his way to the side closest to the hotel. He could see the garden, but the trees were blocking his view. He cursed, but tried to focus his hearing, find the man annoying voice.

“…but baby, why can’t I come with you? I did everything you wanted. At least let me go to Paris with you. You know I am worth it.” The man sounded like he tried to seduce whoever he was talking to, but he mostly sounded whiny.

“Oh honey, we can’t. It has been really fun and you have helped tremendously. But you knew this was a job from the beginning, and the boss… The boss wants me to get back now.” That had to be Kate, and what a conniving woman she was. Trying to make it be not her idea to burn the poor family. Even sounding a bit afraid of her ‘boss’.  He snorted, sure it could have been Gerard’s idea, but Kate was not scared of him. If she had any doubts whatsoever she would go running to her brother. It was not like she was without options.

And now he knew where she was, but she was leaving soon. He gathered from what he could hear of their conversation that the pretty boy had helped her secure the fire as an accident. They never mentioned any details, but Peter could read between the lines. Peter would make sure to sic the police on him. He would at least go down for drugs, Peter would plant some extra on him if he needed to.

But what should he do about Kate? He had a plane to catch on Wednesday, and he really didn’t want to get to Paris and back before then. If Kate was even leaving for Paris, that could be a ruse. Would she recognize him as a werewolf if he met her? He really wanted her dead. The pack she had burned was larger than his, and there had been a lot of kids there. The fire had been preliminary domed a horrible accident. The propane tank had somehow broken, and first filled the house with gas and then ignited by something. It had been engulfed in fire in minutes. Peter didn’t know the details, but he knew it was bullshit. But they hadn’t closed the case yet, they were still waiting for lab results. But the police didn’t expect anything to show up according to the media.

It sounded like the pair had started making out, Peter felt disgust. They had just talked about how they had gotten away with killing fourteen people. Who the hell thought that was sexy? He made his way down from the roof. He would risk getting closer. Maybe the hotel had a bar? Or at least a restaurant. He could order lunch, sure it was in the middle of the siesta, but he was a crazy American. French people wouldn’t expect better of him.

There was a bar, and they served some food. Peter ordered a glass of red wine and ratatouille. The wine was excellent, the food too. He sat at a table with a view of the garden. He could see a pair kissing in the shadow of a tree. It looked like typical young love, but Peter recognized his hustler. This was perfect. He would eat his food, and make sure Kate didn’t leave with the boy. He wanted her alone. She would not leave Cannes alive, he would make sure of that.


	65. Chapter 65

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some highly dubious description of preparing drugs, the use of said drugs and consequences of that. I have no idea what I'm talking about, but my search history is starting to get really freaky. 
> 
> I hope it is at least somewhat believable. I kept it quite tame. I don't think it warrants an uptick in rating, but if anyone disagrees please tell me.

Peter blinked awake. Kate was dead. His connection to the other Peter had been so good that it had almost felt like he was there. Kate was dead and it was even being framed on somebody else. A freaking overdose. Peter had really lucked out with Kate’s accomplice. She had dropped the ball on that one, working with junkies. Sure, he was a highly functional one, he had probably not been using the stronger stuff for long. And she had probably thought that his addiction would make him easier to manage. But drugs were such an easy thing to make mistakes with.

Peter thought about what he had seen. The other Peter had kept an eye on them during the day, the pair had behaved like any other normal summer fling, soon to separate. Peter had gotten the impression that Kate was mostly making sure of the pretty boys devotion to her. And it seemed to work too. He had stopped asking about getting to follow her, and been more interested in spending the rest of the day in bed together. When they retired back to her room Peter had made sure to know where it was and then left.

It had been such a huge risk, leaving them unsupervised. But his counterpart had thought about a quite genius plan and needed resources. Resources that he hoped the drug addicted hustler would have in his room. The young man was staying at a cheap hotel with lacking security. Peter didn’t have any trouble finding and breaking into his room. The smell of fire had been stronger there. He quickly sniffed out a hoodie that absolutely reeked of smoke and ash. He found a bag and put that in, it wouldn’t hurt dropping some extra evidence.

He then searched for the drugs. He had been sure the man would have a stash.  He had not known what the man was on, Peter had never paid enough attention to normal human drugs to differentiate between them. It had been down to actually searching through the room, the reek of fire had masked the scent of anything else. But the hustler had used the most obvious place of all, the water tank for the toilet. It was almost embarrassing, but Peter was not one to bemoan his opponent’s stupidity.

The stash had consisted of a bunch of pills that Peter had suspected was ecstasy, a small bag of white powder and a small bottle of clear liquid. It was like the boy had not known what to try and instead got a sample of everything. Well, of at least three things at least. The other Peter had opened the bag, but could not decide what it was. Probably heroin or cocaine, it didn’t really matter. He had taken everything and then wiped down every surface that he had touched. He didn’t really think anyone would search the room too hard, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. He had slung the bag over his shoulder and listened closely at the door before leaving. Making sure that nobody was around.

Peter had been impressed with his other self. He remembered breaking in to find damning evidence, and in some cases planting it to keep the pack safe, but this would be the first time he would contemplate murder. Well, the first time he would go through with it. And he had been so calm, fueled by a burning rage at the woman who thought it was a good thing to burn families alive. The pretty boy would only be a bonus. Peter quit enjoyed getting to ride along with his counterpart. It was the most invigorated he had felt since he got sent back. And he was doing what Peter had wanted to do all along.  

After they had left the dingy hotel the other Peter had searched out a drugstore. There he had chatted up one of the pharmacists, telling her that his old dad had managed to break his insulin syringes, he wasn’t sure how he had managed that but could they help him with new ones? There had been a lot of awing at how good of a son he was and he had gotten a pair of syringes with changeable needles. All very good and hygienic.

And the plan had just… unfolded from there. Even if it was way more luck than the older Peter usually liked in an operation it had just gone so smoothly. After some more shopping, the younger man had managed to sneak into the hotel after dark through a back door. The lock had not been hard to pick, and there had been no other security. He had managed to work his way to Kate’s room unseen, and that door had been easy too. The hotel was of the charming variety that still used normal keys, so Peter didn’t have any trouble getting into the room. Where both humans were sleeping soundly sexed out if the smell was anything to go on. Kate must have felt safe because she hadn’t even set up the most basic of traps.

He had knocked her out just in case, the hustler had not moved a muscle. Peter had bound Kate’s arms and legs with silk scarves, hoping they would not leave suspicions marks, and also gagged her. He had then looked the pretty boy over. He slept soundly, mouth wide open. Peter had grinned, and then grounded up a couple of pills and poured them into a bit of water. He didn’t wait for it to dissolve before he had slowly dripped the water down the man’s throat, who had swallowed instinctively. He had no idea if it would work, but it should. He had shifted to his beta form, but kept the nails retracted. It would not do to break the gloves.

After that the other Peter had retreated to the bathroom, to prepare the syringes. He had managed to liquefy the powder, it had taken some trials, first he only tried to melt it but then he realized he needed some water to solve it in. That worked beautifully, and then he had two syringes filled with either heroin or coke. It didn’t really matter which one, both could kill in high enough doses, and Kate would get a high dose. The pretty one a lesser one, it didn’t really matter if he survived, because he would not know anything.

After that it had only been a matter of injecting the drugs and getting appropriate fingerprints on the equipment. He cleaned up anything that looked suspicious. Neither of them woke up. He had loosened Kate’s bonds, but kept the gag, arranging the pair as they had had a kinky sexgame gone wrong. He had left the stash spread out on the bed. It was a highly decadent display. He hoped they would not traumatize the poor maid too much next morning. Kate’s heart had started to beat erratically when he left. He had been sure it would give up soon, but didn’t stay.

Peter had been kind of awestruck and the whole thing. Not only was Kate as good as dead, there were enough drugs in there to get the other man in a lot of trouble. And on top of that was the whole suspicious smelling hoodie. And who knows what kind of things Kate had left. His counterpart had staked out the hotel for the rest of the night from the roof he had used earlier. Quite early the following morning the stillness had been broken by the sirens of both ambulance and police. The man had been brought out on a stretcher, and then the ambulance had speeded off. Kate was nowhere to be seen. She was dead, and soon the hotel was overrun with police.

Peter had woken up after that. He was not sure if he had dreamt in real time or not, it had felt like real time. It was dark, in the middle of the night. He was beside his pond. He had decided to spend a night there because the location was soothing and he could sleep as much as he wanted. So it would be either a few hours or more than a day. He guessed a day. He frowned, displeased with leaving Stiles alone for so long. The last he had seen of him he had been wrapped up in starting school again. He felt for the bond, the boy seemed to be sleeping soundly. It was okay then. He would stay where he was. Kate was dead. It was the only thing that mattered at the moment.


	66. Chapter 66

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really close to the end now. Maybe one or two more chapters, and an epilogue.

Peter stayed beside his pond for the rest of the night. He had no desire to sleep. It felt like he maybe had slept enough. Everything had started to feel final. He knew his time was up, and he didn’t resent it. Kate was dead. He was positive that Gerard would be taken care of. The cold determination the other Peter had radiated when he had disposed of Kate assured Peter that his pack and family was safe. He was a bit worried that it would strain the relationship between alpha and self appointed enforcer. But Peter had managed to work around it in his time, though it had taken longer for him to actually need to take such drastic measures as killing someone. They would be okay. At least if his counterpart managed to forgive Talia, and that was out of his hands. And quite frankly Talia deserved to earn his forgiveness. It would be good for her too.

Peter felt Stiles wake up, first it was his normal anticipation for the day but that turned to disappointment and grief. He cursed and quickly willed himself to the boy’s side.

 “Peter!” The kid threw himself into his arms. “I thought you had left already, when you didn’t show up at all yesterday…” His words tapered off. Peter felt a brief stab of guilt, but suppressed it. He couldn’t feel remorse over knowing what had happened to Kate, and getting to be there, feel the satisfaction of a fate well deserved.

“Oh, kid. I will not leave without saying goodbye. Not voluntarily at least.” He held the boy close, sat both of them down on the floor, trying to soothe him even if the hug felt unsatisfying. It was one of the things he resented most, the limitation on touch.

“Where were you?! You promised to come if I was in distress, and you being away for over a day without saying something was pretty distressing! I thought you would be here when I got back from school, and then… You just didn’t show up at all.” He was hurt, Peter could feel it.

“I’m sorry about that. I got stuck in a dream. Slept for over a day I think.”

“You dreamt about the other Peter?” A hint of curiosity infiltrated the hurt, but it didn’t replace it completely.

“Yes. He accomplished one of the things I came here to do.” The smile on Peter’s lips was probably evil, but he managed to get it under control before Stiles saw anything.

“Is your family safe now?” The hurt was almost gone, Peter was glad the boy understood.

“Well, the biggest threat is neutralized. And I am sure that my counterpart will be able to handle the rest. He will keep them safe. You and your family too if you become part of the pack.”

“…So you are leaving now? Your family is safe, so you have done what you came for…” Stiles sounded sad and resigned.

“I have at least one day left. I would spend it with you, but you have school and need to focus on that. But I will be here when you get back and you can tell me all about it.”

“You promise?” Stiles looked at him with big brown eyes begging him to keep his word.

“I promise.”

Stiles nodded and then stumbled on to his feet, getting his clothes and then managed to work his way to the bathroom without incident. Peter saw him leave with a fond sigh, he kind of regretted that he would not see this Stiles grow up. Would he become as powerful as the one he had known? Probably not, desperation was a powerful drive when nurturing magic. And this Stiles would hopefully never be as desperate. He would have a pack to help him and his father if his mother didn’t make it. There wouldn’t be a grief crazed alpha terrorizing him and his friends. And he wouldn’t need to feel responsible of keeping everyone safe with a strong functioning pack in town.

Peter lay down on the bed, staring at the roof. He didn’t want to sleep. He frankly didn’t really want to do anything. He felt ready to just let go of his hold on reality. But it was not time yet. He would stay one more day. He would take a proper goodbye of the kid and his parents. Maybe write a letter or two, make sure his own family knew that he loved them. But for now… For now he would try to imagine how the future would be different, better. Even if he would not be there to see it, it would be because of him.


	67. Chapter 67

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have realized that trying to end a story is way harder than starting one. It's like, I have two to three days I need to get down, and I kind of know what I want to happen. I could probably summarize it in a few sentences, but that is hardly satisfactory. So this will probably take a few days with short updates, sorry about that.

When Stiles got back from school he felt like an emotional mess. His Adderall had not been effective during the day and he had only barely managed to force himself not to jump out of his seat at the slightest distraction. He was glad it was only the second day of school so they hadn’t really started doing anything he couldn’t miss. And he had not registered anything of the day. He had been fidgeting and doodled a lot. Been unusually quiet for him too, his mind wanting him to babble about everything, but not been able to do it because then he would break down in tears. And nobody wanted to see that. Scott had been worried about him, but accepted that he didn’t want to talk about it in school. He probably thought it was about Stiles mom, but the whole heartbreak with her had been pushed back for the more immediate hurt that was Peter.

Peter would leave. He was going to die. Stiles was grateful that he had one last night to say goodbye, but the involuntary separation the day before had enforced for him that Peter wasn’t really just leaving. He was dying and Stiles could do nothing about it. Because Peter didn’t want him too. Stiles had a nagging feeling that if he just could get both Peters at the same space he would be able to push his Peter into the other Peter, but that would be a bad thing to do. The other Peter had probably more right to his body than his Peter had. And his Peter had already made up his mind about it, because he had hinted at being banished, and leaving but never at merging with his counterpart. And he must have thought about it, and he had promised the other Peter something to make him do whatever Peter needed him to do.

Stiles stood in the hallway for what felt like eons. He both wanted to rush up to his room and demand that Peter would stay, would not leave him and at the same time avoid the man altogether. Because if he didn’t see him he wouldn’t leave. Well, that was a stupid thought, and if he didn’t see him it wouldn’t matter if he stayed would it? He sighed and started walking up the stairs. He would not make the last time he had with Peter miserable. He would enjoy having his wolf for one last night, he would enjoy the feeling of safety and contentment that Peter gave him. And he had managed before Peter, he would manage after. Even if the world was a lot scarier now, and Peter had been one of the things that counteracted that. He would manage alone. Well, not alone, he had his parents and Scott and to some degree Melissa and Mrs. M. Never alone. Peter couldn’t even really do anything. Except let him sleep without nightmares… And be a really comforting presence when he was feeling anxious… He forced that aside too, no more stupid thoughts. He had a wolf to hang out with.

Stiles pushed the door to his room wide open, he had left it open enough for Peter to get out as a wolf. He quickly looked his room over. Peter was curled up on his bed as a wolf. He looked at Stiles with sad eyes. Well, he must have gone through the day feeling Stiles jumbled emotions through the bond. That could not have been funny. Stiles didn’t know what to say. His eyes caught on something on his desk. A stack of letters that had not been there when Stiles left this morning. He was not sure how Peter had managed that, it felt final somehow.

Peter whined at him and sat up, but didn’t change. Stiles forced down a sob and rushed to the bed to hug him. Peter nuzzled into his throat, drawing in his scent most likely.

“Can you stay like this for a while? I do want to talk to human you too, but right now… I will really miss you.” Stiles didn’t cry, but it was a close thing. His wolf would leave him. But at least he seemed to agree to his plea. They sat together like that for a long while. It was unusual for Stiles to be home alone, but his parents had made an exception since Peter was leaving. He idly told his wolf about school, mostly what had happened the day before since this day had been such a mess. It was easy talking to Peter as a wolf, it was a bit like it had been in the beginning but with the exception that Stiles knew he understood him. But it was safe, and comforting and Stiles slowly relaxed. He could do this, he could make the last night they had a good one.

“You can change back now.”


	68. Chapter 68

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one got away from me a bit. But if you can't be self indulgent in fanfic then where can you be?

Peter spent the day forcing himself not to teleport to Stiles. The tumbled emotions pulsing through the bond was excruciating. He could feel how the boy tried to force the emotions away, to focus on school but with little to no success. And his feelings were all over the place, from hurt to anger to the odd moment of happiness but most of all was the ever present feeling of grief. The kid mourned him.

To distract himself he had explored how much he could manipulate the world. He had been delighted when he managed to write on the whiteboard that was left beside Stiles’ bed. And then he had almost managed to push the feelings from the bond away from his consciousness when he could actually move papers. He had quickly gotten hold on a notebook and then written letters to all of his family. Not long letters, but he told each of them how much he loved them, and that their Peter did too. He also told a small secret about himself, a different one for the different family member.

Not anything that would hurt the other Peter, only small stuff. Like he told Eloise that he secretly loved angsty young adult books but would never admit to that in public. He told Derek that he had became captain of the basketball team by getting his coach tickets to a play in LA, but Derek would have to get by on his own merits because the coach had retired a few years ago. And Peter had managed to take his team to victory countless times, so he had no place accusing him of cheating. It had simply been easier to bribe his way to the position than to go though the normal tedious way of sucking up to the former coach to get the position. He left similar secrets to Laura, Cora, Oliver and his sisters’ husbands. Small things but secrets they could bond over if they wanted to.

His letters to his sisters had been harder. He told Violet how he had sabotaged her first date with Andrew because he had been angry at her for some reason he could not remember. He didn’t really feel remorse for that, but he regretted that his sisters first date had ended up in tears. And he had only been six, so she should probably be a bit embarrassed that she hadn’t realized how he had manipulated things. This secret could maybe hurt the other Peter a bit, but he felt like it was harmless. His sister had ended up marrying the man after all, so he could not have done too much damage.

Talia… Talia’s letter was the longest. Because his feelings for her was the most complicated. He had always loved her unconditionally, but oh how he had resented her existence sometimes. He had been told all his life how Talia was his future alpha, how he needed to listen to her and do as she said. He had managed to get a somewhat functional relationship with her as a kid anyway, because she was kind and fair and did never abuse the given power their parents gave her over him. But he had feared the day she would become alpha, and had spent way more time away from home when she got t he power. He had been afraid that she would become like their mother, who used the alpha power to enforce absolute obedience of their pack. Talia had never done anything to indicate the she would become like their mother, but well… She had taken his memories even if the cause was good. So he felt justified in his suspicion of her.

So Talia got his reason for not wanting to work in the family firm. He had never told her why, and she had never asked in his previous life. But it had been a sore spot between the two siblings, probably mostly because he had kept his foray into criminal justice a secret as he studied. So he told her how he didn’t want one more place where she had a higher rank than him. One more place where he would be dependent on her. That she was mostly a good alpha to him, but he feared that she would be a terrible boss. Or maybe just that he would be a terrible employee for her. He had never wanted to say anything because it was not his style to tell possibly hurtful truths when he could avoid the subject entirely.

The last letter he wrote was for Stiles. He got no secrets about Peter, he had already told way too many to the boy. But he wrote down some titles of books that could help get him started with magic, and gave a few names of people he could seek out when he was older. The other Peter would be able to help too, but he felt like Stiles deserved the information and didn’t want to leave it to chance.  He finished the letter telling him how he had made his life better. How Peter would always be grateful that he had met him, and that he hoped Stiles would remember him fondly.

After he had finished writing he had felt Stiles getting closer. He managed to put each letter in an envelope and named them before leaving them in a neat stack on the desk. He would ask Stiles to give them to his family in a few days. He shifted to his wolf form, Stiles always calmed down quicker when he could borrow down in his fur so it was the best approach when he was upset. It worked this time too. He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, a wolf and a boy rambling on about his classes and classmates. But when Stiles finally asked him to shift to human he took a moment to just breathe in his scent before complying.

“Hello Stiles.” Everything was so faded now, only Stiles eyes seemed to have any color left, making the contrast so much more evident.

“Did you plan to tell me?” Stiles sound calm, and Peter contemplates for a second to pretend not to understand him, but rejects it. He knows Stiles is intelligent, and he will not be condescending to the boy.

“No, I hoped you would get to keep the fantasy of me existing somewhere.” Peter didn’t know where he had gone wrong. He had probably talked too much, he had had an embarrassing lack of discretion around the boy.

Stiles thought it over, his grief feeling suppressed through the bond.

“Why can’t you share with the other Peter? You saved them, didn’t you? Don’t you deserve to live?”

“Oh kid, I’m not so sure that I do. I have clung to life for so long by all means necessary and in most part just because I could. I did some horrible things in my future, and I lived through worse things done to me. These weeks I have had with you… They gave me back something I lost a long time ago, but at the same time… I can’t go on with this half existence. I don’t want to. The only thing I regret leaving is you, but I am sure you will be alright. You have wonderful parents, and Scott, annoying as he is, would end the world for you. He actually did, in my time. Well, maybe not only for you, but he agreed to it because you asked. And you the whole Hale pack will love you when they get to know you, I know they will.”

“Even other Peter?” Stiles voice was small, insecure.

“Especially other Peter, he will not be able to help himself. He will be leery in the beginning but he will start asking about me before you know it.”

They sat quiet together for a while after that, side by side, not touching. When Stiles broke the silence he changed the subject. Peter hoped Stiles would get over the loss of him soon, that he ultimately be remembered with fondness and not only as the force that changed his life forever. They talked a bit about Stiles class, where Peter opted not to tell about what he knew about their secrets. But he did say that when he had known them Stiles and Lydia had become friends. But he had at least eight to ten years before that happened. He wasn’t sure he did the right thing, but he could already see the hint of devotion that had started to form so he gave the boy a little hope at least. Even if he didn’t really know what he hoped for at the moment.

He followed Stiles down for dinner when his parents got home. Afterwards they watched a movie, both Noah and Claudia indulgent because Peter was leaving. Peter made is farewells with them as well. He gave them some investment advice. Health care was not cheap after all, and it would not do to deplete their savings. He also made Noah promise to be careful about booze, because Stiles would need his father however things played out with Claudia. He urged her to at least give the bite a chance at the end of it, if not sooner. And he especially asked both of them to reach out to the pack, to get involved.

It was a good night, and if Claudia was silently crying when he said his last good bye to both of them before leaving to help Stiles fall asleep nobody said anything. Peter was mostly grateful that they could not see his own sorrow.

Stiles had left the window open when he got up and lay awake in the bed, waiting for him.

“Can you stay through the night? I would like to dream about running through the woods with my wolf at least one last time.” He was crying, but he didn’t beg him to stay indefinitely.

“Of course, but I will be gone before you wake up tomorrow. I don’t know how much time I have left and I want to see my family one last time.” He also didn’t want to say goodbye to the kid. He wasn’t sure he would be able to leave if he was awake.

“Okay. I will miss you.”

“I wish you a long and happy life Mieczyslaw, sleep well.” Peter shifted and snuggled close to the crying boy. There was nothing left to say. They fell asleep like that, wolf and boy, side by side. The boy’s tears drying into the wolf’s fur. They dreamt about running through the woods, together as pack. Peter woke up when the first birds started to sing, he looked at the sleeping boy at his side. He looked happy. After a moment he braced himself, said a silent goodbye and leaped out of the window. The other Peters plane would land in less than a day. He would spend the hours he had left looking over his family, knowing that they were safe. He ran through the woods towards his house. It would be enough, he had done enough.


	69. Chapter 69

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter you guys. Well, there is the epilogue, but that is almost finished, I just need to tweak it a bit to fit with how the story ended up.

Peter spent the day watching over his family. He made an effort of blocking the feelings Stiles was having, but his grief made the whole day bittersweet. His family was mostly happy, they seemed excited to get their Peter back. Well, Talia was a bit pensive, Peter guessed she had been told about Kate, but he didn’t get the feeling that she would shun her brother so he was quietly optimistic.

He had thought he would have to spend most of the day alone, they did have work and school after all, but Laura was staying home. Maybe her classes hadn’t started yet, she was enrolled in the community college of Beacon Hills and he had no idea of their schedule. He had never really gotten why she hadn’t pursued a real degree but Talia had told him to butt out of it so he had pretended not to care. He supposed she did something better when moving to New York, but well, he never talked to Derek about it. Laura had been a sore spot between them.

So he spent the day watching over his niece. She seemed happy, overall the tension in the house had lessened tremendously since he had been here last. He wondered if it was because Kate was dead. They didn’t need to discuss her anymore since she was already taken care of. And Peter wasn’t even sure that the majority of his family knew that their Peter had had anything to do with it. Talia obviously knew, he was certain of that, but the rest of them seemed oblivious. Peter hoped they could keep it that way. He wondered a bit how killing Kate would change his younger self. His own first kill had happened at least a year from now. A religious zealot who had found out about the pack somehow and was planning to either try telling about them or killing them. He was never really sure but the man had been unhinged enough to be taken care of. He had planned on using his normal methods of getting the guy thrown in jail but something had gone wrong and he had been forced to kill him. It had been sloppy but he could cover it up without anybody knowing. Not even Talia found out.

In hindsight that had probably been one more reason he had felt isolated from the pack. His willingness to do anything for them but not actually tell them about it. And he hadn’t said anything since he knew Talia would have disapproved. He didn’t feel guilty of it, his blue eyes had been because the suffering he spared his pack in the fire. He hadn’t believed any of them would survive so when he did… Maybe little James would have made it too, if he had just given him the chance. But that was moot now, this timelines Peter would not feel forced to kill his youngest packmate. And Peter would soon get to rest. Maybe his contribution to save his family would be enough to make up for his madness. He hoped so. He didn’t really believe in an afterlife, but if there was one he would hope to end up somewhere more pleasant than the hellscape he probably deserved.

He could feel how the other Peter was getting closer. He was probably somewhere over the Atlantic right now. He wasn’t sure how he could feel the man, they had only connected through his dreams previously, but maybe it was the distance thing. He didn’t feel a bond at least, he just knew that the man was getting closer. But it was hours away before he landed, and then he needed to get from San Francisco too. He wondered if someone was going to go pick him up. That hadn’t happened in his time, but then he hadn’t really told anyone when he was getting back either.

The rest of the family trickled in during the day. First the children, well Laura actually went and picked Cora up, but the rest got home by themselves. The adults all came in one car, they did that sometimes when their schedules allowed it. He thought it was mostly a way to get some private time to talk about stuff they didn’t want the children to hear but he had never participated so he wasn’t sure.

He looked over his family, they were happy, safe. He had managed to save them. Well, his counterpart had, but he had made it possible. He was content with that.

Talia actually went to pick the other Peter up from the airport. Peter was surprised at first, but then realized that it was a way for her to settle some of their issues without the rest of the pack hanging on. He managed to get into the car before she left, he was quite agile as a wolf. He knew that he probably shaved of a few hours by going to meet the other Peter, but his grip on reality was getting weak, and he wanted to at least see the man before he let go. And he kind of wanted to see the reunion between alpha and enforcer too.

“I never wanted you to kill anyone, I hope you know that.”

Peter stared at his sister, did she know he was here? How the hell had that happened?

“Shit, I don’t even know if you are really here, but well, that is what my brother would do so I will talk to you like you are. It will do me some good even if it is only a fantasy.”

Well, okay then. His sister was talking to herself hoping that he would listen. Maybe if she told him all her grievances she would be lenient towards the other Peter.

“I never really got you, you know. You were always so… Independent. Maybe it was because mom and dad treated you like they did, but it seemed like you never really wanted to be pack. But I will always protect you… You were such a little thing when you were born.” She paused for a moment, thinking on what to say. Then she laughed.

“You would resent that comment so much if you are really here. You never liked being small.” Peter scowled at her, he wasn’t small. He had gotten quite buff thank you very much.

“Well, I guess you aren’t so small anymore. All grown up and been through hell and back. I never wanted that for you. But you are not really mine are you? You are another Talia’s, someone who got to have you a few years extra before her life and pack burned except you and her children… I’m so sorry they abandoned you. I promise I will do better, I will not let my Peter down like that.”

She was silent for a while.

“But I don’t think I will let my Peter fall as low as you felt you needed too. I will not let him become a killer like our parents. There are better ways, and I can forgive him for Kate, the bitch got an easier death than she really deserved. But I want better for Peter. My baby brother will not end up mad with the killer instinct. He deserves better than that. You deserved better than that.”

Peter was silently crying, the ferocity in Talia’s voice was cutting. He couldn’t really agree that killing was such a bad thing, but maybe… Maybe the other Peter could. Maybe Peter had killed too many people to feel bad for it and that was probably not a good thing. He didn’t know, he couldn’t allow himself to regret being a killer, it had ended up saving everyone after all.

Talia continues talking about everything. How she hated that Peter had gone after Kate but at the same time was relieved the woman would not be able to set more packs aflame. She accepted that it was hypocritical of her, but couldn’t help it. She told him about the pack, how grateful she was that he had gotten back to them with a warning. She then told him about everything major that had happened to the pack when the other Peter had been away studying. Peter knew most of that, but it was peaceful to listen to her talk.

When they got to the airport it took all Peters willpower to stay. He could feel the universe screaming at him to let go, to stop being stubborn and just accept that he didn’t really belong there. That he was intruding. He stayed close to Talia, it helped a little. And other people avoided her, probably sensing the inherit danger of an alpha without realizing. They waited.

And then the other Peter strolled in, looking like he owned the world and not at all like he had spent the last eight hours on an airplane. Peter felt himself instinctually shift back to human, even if the world was so faded now that there was almost no color left at all. The other man glowed. He stood out like a beacon of sharp crisp realness that Peter couldn’t look away.

Talia called Peter’s name and then more or less ran to her brother, engulfing him in her arms. There was a brief vulnerable look of surprise on his face before he got his features under control and hugged her back.

Peter felt a sharp tug, he could feel how his desperate grip on reality was starting to respond, if he would just touch the other man… But no, he didn’t want that. He looked at them, brother and sister with so many differences but still family. Talia loved him, his pack loved him. Everything would be alright. He could be at peace. With a last push of gratitude to the boy who had made everything possible, he took a deep breath and let go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It became the sad ending, but I hope I at least managed to convey that Peter was happy with it. I leave what happens to his spirit up to you, because some things should be left a mystery.


	70. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm finished! Thank you for all your support. I cherish every comment, kudo and subscription. They kept me going, so thank you all for getting me to an actual ending. 
> 
> I will probably edit the hell out it this on a later date because I kind of feel like I have a good enough story to give it some love and polish. Maybe I should have done that before publishing, but if I had done that I'm quite sure I would have abandoned it half way through.

A little more than a year later.

Peter was leading deputy Stilinski through the woods. He had not been able to stop these events from happening all together. They had tried making Ennis beta behave, but the stupid man had killed two hunters even when he had been warned that if he didn’t keep his temper in check he would die. Maybe it had been unavoidable. And it had the advantage that it had drawn Gerard out. The man had been surprisingly elusive after half the hunter community had shunned him. But he hadn’t been able to stay away when the hunters had died. After a stupid argument in a bar of all places. Ennis surely should keep a better handle on his pack, drinking where hunters gathered. Of all the stupid things to do.

So Gerard had blown into town with a pack of his trusted hunters. Not Chris at least. No, the man had broken all contact with his father after the aftermath of Kate. But there were a lot of them, and they were prowling the woods, trying to flush the beta out. And Peter wanted to wash his hands of the fate of the man. Not only had he in a fit of rage revealed that he was a werewolf to hunters, he had then killed two of them and instead of running to his alpha, he was trying to hide in the Preserve. Probably because he didn’t want to take the trouble home, or maybe because he didn’t want to face what he had done, taking his chances running.

At least they had the Sheriff Department on their side. Sure, only Stilinski knew about werewolves, but all of them were out searching. Hopefully they would get both the wolf before he died and evidence against Gerard and his hunters. Because they did not have a reason to be in the woods shock full of weapons.

The packs had reluctantly agreed to stay out of it, Ennis was furious but kept under control by Talia and Deucalion. The beta needed to face justice, but regular justice where he may be spending a few years in jail. Well, for all Peter cared he could die, stupidity was not affordable in a wolf. But Stilinski was adamant, there would be no war on his watch. The only reason Peter was out there was because he had spent over a year trying to find Gerard. He had put a lot of effort and free time into making the man’s life as hard as possible. Hell if he would let his first chance of actually meeting the hunter slip through his fingers. They had explained his presence to the other cops with his knowledge of the woods. He had been a guide before, so it was not unusual.

So Peter led the man towards the distillery, because that’s was where it had happened before. Well, somewhere around there at least. He was sure he would hear them when they got closer. The other deputies were fanned out in the woods. Peter hoped that no hunter was stupid enough to shoot one of them. He was prepared to protect Stilinski, he was pack after all, but not the others. Well, maybe from arrows, but not from bullets.

AS they got closer to the distillery he started to hear shouting. It was still too far away for the humans to hear but he made Stilinski aware of the situation. Then he heard the distinct whining of a wolf. He started to run. He got the scent of blood, but the beta was still alive, moving. Hurt but alive. The cops followed him. He wanted to run faster, but refrained, the beta was not worth outing werewolves too all of the Sheriff Department. He could already hear some of them mutter about the running, but they followed. Stilinski was well liked after all, and they knew he had good instincts.

When they broke out into the clearing where the distillery was located they saw a man pressing against the door, with three arrows in him. He was deathly quiet but still conscious.  He had probably been about to open it when the hunters had gotten to him, nailed him to the door.

“Stop! Police!” Stilinski yelled and stepped out in front of Peter and drew his gun, pointing it at Gerard who had a crossbow pointed at the beta. The rest of the deputies followed suit, squaring off against the hunters. There were five of them, excluding Gerard. The Sheriff Department had gone out strong, they were apprehending a killer after all, so there were eight deputies present. The hunters seized, not prepared for the force to show up. There had been no warnings over radio, and Stilinski had chosen his men well. No one had tipped the hunters off.

“Lower your weapons, nobody else will die today.” There was steel in Stilinskis voice, but Peter could hear the lie. The deputy didn’t think the beta would survive. None of the arrows where anywhere lethal, but he was losing blood fast. They had to have coated the arrows with something for the blood to flow so freely. All the hunters except Gerard complied, faced with the odds.

“Argent, don’t do anything foolish. If we get the man to a hospital before he dies you will not need to face murder charges.” Stilinski moved closer, Peter was sure he tried to get between the beta and Argent. There was a manic glint in the hunter’s eyes. Peter stuck close to the deputy, prepared to step in if necessary.

“He’s a monster. He killed my friends.” Gerard could barely get the words out, he was that furious. Peter realizes that the man was crazy. Before he has time to react Gerard pulls the trigger on the crossbow, aimed at the head of the beta. At the same time three shots goes out, two into Gerard’s right shoulder making his shot go wide, straight into the door a few inches beside the betas head. The third shot misses, but at least doesn’t hit anybody else either.

Now everything happens fast. The deputies secure the hunters. Gerard has fallen to the ground, raving about letting monsters go free, Stilinski puts pressure to the wounds. Peter rushes to the beta, trying to calm him down. There is some kind of poison on the arrows, but Peter doesn’t dare pull them out. He at least manages to get the man free from the door. None of the arrows are in a critical place, but the poison is troubling. But if he removes the arrows the beta will probably heal. And that is not advisable right now. The beta passes out, Peter has completely forgotten his name. He could use it right now.

He hears one deputy call for an ambulance or two. Hopefully they will be able to get there, the road to the distillery has not been in use in decades and is not really so much a road as a memory of one. Another deputy, Peter really should have gotten the names of these people, helps him with the beta. Complimenting him for letting the arrows be, it seems like its standard procedure to let pointy stuff be in the body to not cause any more harm before help gets there. Peter hadn’t really thought about it like that, he only wanted to keep the secret. He lets the deputy take over, pretending to be more freaked out than he is. He manages to get a message off to Talia, telling her about the beta and that he has probably been poisoned as well as shot. By something other than wolfsbane, because he can’t place the smell.

And then he just, sits down. He has done his part. Gerard is going into shock by the sounds of it, there is a high possibility that he will die. And nobody will be able to point the blame on any werewolf. It’s a relief. He sends a thought to his future self. He have kept his promise, he has integrated more with the pack, being as friendly as he can be with the kid and now he has neutralized the biggest threat to their family. He thinks the other man would have been satisfied. He knows that he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... There are a lot that is left unanswered, like what happens with Claudia, Malia, the whole Paige thing. How Peter and Stiles will interact when Peter isn’t dependent on Stiles, and Stiles has to accept that his wolf was really not the same as the Peter who is left. But I will end this here, this was future Peters story, with a bit of input from Stiles and current Peter. And future Peter got what he came for. 
> 
> I kind of like my universe I have gotten to play in, so I will probably come back to it. Will it still be a time travel fic if the actual time traveler is gone? Maybe the next one should be about the consequences of meddling with time. Or something. Maybe I will write a prologue to this story, to let future Stiles explain why he did what he did. Or maybe I will end up writing something completely different. I am an avid Steter fan after all, and Steter will never happen in this universe.


End file.
